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erasure: what the archives don’t say
Why don’t we know more about King Philip’s War? Because, according to our next speaker, Tricia Peone of the Congregational Library & Archives, Puritan historians told the story.
It’s trite but true: victors write the history, and in the case of King Philip’s War, historians from Increase Mather to Edward Everett wrote narratives that offered one point of view. And the experience and voice of Indigenous people? Erased.
Drawing on the Congregational Library’s unparalleled collection of congregational records, Tricia Peone and her colleagues have compiled a masterful resource guide to primary documents in their holdings, all on King Philip’s War. From the Mathers to 19th century town histories celebrating what for them were colonial heroes, this resource guide offers a treasure trove of original documentation. It also provides a list of recent scholarship, including that of Lisa Brooks, Linda Coombs and Jean O’Brien.
"The Congregational Library & Archives is honored to contribute a resource guide of primary and secondary sources to the commemoration of 350th anniversary of King Phillip's War/Metacom's Resistance,” Kyle Roberts, Congregational Library executive director, told us. “It is more important than ever that people have access to the original sources where people documented, remembered, and too often mis-remembered the war.
“There has been such a flowering of recent scholarship from Indigenous and Euro-American perspectives on the war that we wanted to highlight those works as well in hopes that the complexity of the war would be understood."
It’s a big no-no in digital circles to send your readers anywhere outside your own website. But in this case, please do leave us (temporarily) to explore the Congregational Library’s magnificent Metacom’s Resistance Research Guide.
And do sign up for Tricia Peone’s upcoming presentation, Erasure: History and Memory in the Archives, on Thursday, April 23, 7-8:30pm ET, online. Register here!
John Eliot sermon, August 1676. Congregational Library & Archives, Boston
Indigenous enslavement - one more time!
In 1675, the minister John Eliot petitioned the Massachusetts authorities to halt Indigenous enslavement because of “the terror of selling away.. in perpetual servitude.” His pleas were ignored.
Hundreds, perhaps thousands, of Indigenous people were captured and enslaved during King Philip’s War. They were sold in New England, to other colonies, in the Caribbean and as far away as Tangier, in today’s Morocco, and the Azores. Only a handful ever returned home.
Some of you joined us on Wednesday, April 8, 7-8:30pm, for Brown University historian Linford Fisher’s hard-hitting presentation Surviving Slavery: The Sale of Indigenous People in King Philip’s War. His years of research revealed the extent of enslavement - far beyond any that historians had previously believed to be the case - and its cruelty.
Unfortunately we experienced a bit of a tech meltdown which made many of your viewing frustratingly difficult. As a result, we’ll be hosting LInford Fisher for a second round of his presentation! Stay tuned, we’ll be in touch about date and time.
This certificate from Plymouth colony governor Josiah Winslow granted Captain Thomas Smith of the Seaflower the right to transport 110 Native men, women, and children out of Plymouth and to sell them into "perpetuall servitude & slavery." Dated August 9, 1676. Certificate to Thomas Smith, 9 August 1676, Josiah Winslow, 1676. Collections of the Massachusetts Historical Society, Boston
their marks, their lives
“What do you see in these marks?” asks Kimberly Toney, coordinating curator for Native and Indigenous materials at the John Carter Brown Library and John Hay Library at Brown University. “What do they make visible? And what responsibilities come with knowing all this?”
Those of us who read traditional accounts of early New England history are accustomed to erasure - the invisibility of Indigenous people of the Eastern Woodlands in traditional accounts, except perhaps as greeters of colonists on the shore or aggressors at war. Kim Toney’s important project on Instagram and Tumblr, Their Marks, shows that, on the contrary, Indigenous people were present in all aspects of life, as their signatures, or marks, testify. Their marks are a sign of agency and survivance.
Read Kim Toney’s important blog post, here, and see the marks of twelve Indigenous people of the Eastern Woodlands, whose lives we explore in our series on King Philip’s War, Metacom’s Resistance.
Kim Toney will appear as part of an inter-tribal panel exploring the costs and consequences of King Philip’s War in the final event of the series, at the main Boston Public Library and livestreamed, on Thursday, May 28, 5:30-7:30pm ET. Sign up for The Long Legacy here.
This is one of few known written records, in his own hand, of Metacom, or Philip, Wampanoag sachem who led Indigenous resistance. Philip, sachem of the Wampanoag. Quitclaim by Philip, Rehoboth, MA. From the collections of the John Carter Brown Library.
Events
BOOK CLUB: whose story?
evana rose tamayo
ONLINE, SATURDAY, APRIL 18, 2026, 11AM-12:30PM
For centuries, mainstream understanding of King Philip’s War was based on accounts such as Mary Rowlandson’s harrowing story of her captivity and ransom. But then William Apess, Pequot minister, author and activist, came along. His Eulogy on King Philip, published in the early 19th century, turns Rowlandson’s captivity narrative on its head. In our virtual book club, we’ll read and discuss Rowlandson’s captivity narrative and Apess’ Eulogy on King Philip - conflicting views powerfully argued. What will you think? Please do read both accounts! The conversation is much richer if everyone’s done the reading.
“We need a full and honest
reckoning with our history.”
— attendee, Tyranny vs Liberty series
rebellion or resistance?
Once histories of King Philip’s War spoke of “skulking Indians” and “perfidious heathens.” Now, inspired and inspiring new scholarship is turning that narrative upside down. Maryann Zujewski offers an essential list of primary, secondary, digital and other materials, including tribal websites of presenters in our Metacom’s Resistance series, to help you continue the journey in finding out what really happened.
are you a reader?
If your answer is yes, well - we are readers, too. That’s why we’ve created our READ page, to tempt you to read more! Find out supporter David Achenbach’s view of Edmund Morgan’s The Puritan Family - still in print after 60 years - and author Lori Rogers-Stokes on Lin Fisher’s new book on enslavement. And don’t forget to join our virtual book club!
surprising revolutionaries
New England Puritans insisted on self-government, bearing with them their charter. They drafted the first American bill of rights, enshrining liberties which far surpassed any in the English-speaking world. Who would have thought that Puritans could be so revolutionary? Francis J. Bremer explores the 1641 Body of Liberties and its guarantee of due process, the right to protest, and equality under the law.
“This talk opened a new world for me.”
— attendee, ‘I Pledge Allegiance’: Sovereignty and Sanctuary in the Dawnland