Natick in King Philip’s War

What was life like for Natick residents during King Philip’s War?

The following essay was developed from a talk given by Gail Coughlin. 

This essay introduces King Philip’s War and the complex experiences of Natick residents (all Indigenous) during the conflict. It is known that Natick residents experienced unspeakable tragedy during their internment on Deer Island. Still, despite this tragedy, Natick residents continued to advocate for themselves and their loved ones through various means. 

The subject of this essay is a very gruesome war—the bloodiest war per capita fought on North American soil aside from the American Civil War. Thousands of people of all backgrounds, loyalties, genders, and ages died, often brutally and in violation of English and Indigenous understandings of “just” warfare.  This essay discusses the wartime experiences of Natick residents (often shaped by English violations of “just” warfare). I will also mention the violence and ongoing traumas that community residents and their descendants experienced; I want to highlight the agency of seventeenth-century Natick residents and demonstrate that, despite all odds, they found ways to stand up for themselves to ensure that they, their loved ones, and their community survived.   

A Note on Language:  6 terms to avoid confusion

Massachusett language is a language in the Algonquian family and the most widely spoken language in Natick during the seventeenth century. Residents of Natick came from multiple Indigenous communities and nations, but the majority eventually spoke Massachusett while living in Natick. 

Northeast Woodland: an Indigenous culture area in what is now New England. Northeast Woodland peoples encompassed many polities and often shared many cultural similarities due to the area where they lived and frequent trade and diplomacy with one another. 

Praying Town: Natick was founded as a Puritan mission for Indigenous people. It was one of several communities founded to convert Indigenous peoples in the Massachusetts Bay and Plymouth Colonies to Christianity. Seventeenth-century English missionaries and authorities called these communities “Praying Towns.” I use the terms “Praying Town” and “mission” interchangeably throughout this essay. 

Metacom: Also known as “King Philip.” A Wampanoag sachem, primarily credited as the leading Indigenous actor in King Philip’s War.  Although there is evidence that Metacom may have permanently started to refer to himself as “Philip” by the 1660s, I refer to him as Metacom to avoid confusion with European monarchs and emphasize his Indigenous identity. 

Sachem:  an Anglicized term from multiple words in Algonquian languages referring to Indigenous leaders who held dominion over communities, regions, or entire Indigenous nations. Sachems inherited their positions from their parents or acquired them through marriage. Subjects of sachems paid them tribute. 

Wigwam/wetu: traditional Eastern Woodland-style homes. Domed structures that stayed cool in the summer and hot during the winter. When Natick was founded in 1651, all residents chose to live in wetus. 

What was King Philip’s War? 

King Philip’s War was violent in New England between 1675 and 1676. It involved English settlers and all Indigenous nations throughout New England. Some Indigenous groups outside of New England, such as the Haudenosaunee from what is now upstate New York into Canada, were also involved. King Philip was a Wampanoag man who entered English records as a man called Metacom. He was the son of the Massasoit, Ousamequin, who had diplomatic relations with the Pilgrims in Plymouth. Metacom faced a different set of challenges from his father. First, the English population in the Massachusetts Bay and Plymouth colonies continuously increased during the mid-seventeenth century, and Indigenous peoples experienced encroachment onto their land. Second, English livestock frequently destroyed Indigenous crops. Third, English settlers and authorities broke numerous legal agreements with Indigenous authorities. Finally, and potentially most importantly in this context, Indigenous and English leaders debated which authority had the legal right to prosecute an Indigenous person accused of committing a crime. Ultimately, these factors spurred Metacom to violence. 1675 Metacom raised an army of Wampanoag, Narragansett, Nipmuc, and Massachusett soldiers. Others, such as the female Pocasset Wampanoag sachem, Weetamoo, raised an army to fight the English. However, as you shall learn from the experiences of Natick residents, the conflict was not simply a war between Indigenous people and English settlers. 

What was Natick like on the eve of King Philip’s War?

Natick was founded as a Puritan mission community or “Praying Town” in 1651 by Waban, an Indigenous man from Nonantum (now Newton), and Puritan missionary John Eliot, originally from England. In 1675, all Natick residents were Indigenous, primarily Nipmuc, Massachusett, or Wampanoag. The majority of the residents converted to Congregational-Calvinist, or Puritan, Christianity. Many of the community’s most prominent men made public confessions of faith to prove their conversions. Residents followed a strict code of conduct that required them to dress and act according to English cultural and gender norms, observe the Sabbath, and refrain from non-Christian forms of ceremony and belief. Men and women took on English-gendered work. For instance, men took over farming, generally a woman’s responsibility for Northeast Woodland peoples. 

Residents elected leaders to enact Mosaic law, a legal system based on rules from the Bible's Old Testament. Children attended an English-style school where lessons were taught in the Massachusett language. Some men learned to read and write and became Christian missionaries, traveling through Indigenous communities in Plymouth and the Massachusetts Bay colonies or taking on diplomatic roles. 

Natick was a decidedly Indigenous town. Many of the elected rulers were hereditary rulers according to Northeast Woodland-style politics. Residents continued to live in wigwams or wetus. The Massachusett language could be heard in the school and family dwellings. The nature of the Christianity practiced in Natick was syncretic, or a combination of Christian and Northeast Woodland beliefs. Residents maintained kinship, diplomatic, and trading relationships with non-Christian Indigenous communities, and seasonal hunting practices remained in place. 

Enter John Sassamon 

Many historians consider John Sassamon's death and the murder trial that followed to be the final breaking point that sparked King Philip’s War. John Sassamon taught in Natick’s school. He attended Harvard College and received missionary training from Rev. John Eliot. Sassamon read and wrote English and Massachusetts. He was a scribe and translator for Metacom and transcribed legal agreements between the Wampanoag and English. 

Controversy followed Sassamon wherever he went. Wampanoags accused him of mistranslating and mistranscribing legal agreements to gain land personally. Eliot accused him of not trying hard enough to convert Metacom and his followers. Others accused Sassamon of publicly questioning the sincerity of John Eliot’s beliefs. Accusations aside, it is known that Sassamon received land from the Wampanoag sachem and Metacom’s brother-in-law, Tuspaquin, in the Wampanoag community of Nemasket (now Lakeville/Middleboro), where he worked as a missionary. 

On January 29, 1676, John Sassamon’s body was found under the ice of Assawompset Pond near Nemasket. Patuckson, a Wampanoag convert to Christianity, reported that he saw three Wampanoag men stuffing Sassamon’s body under the ice to stage a drowning. Sassamon’s death occurred only days after he told English authorities in Plymouth Colony that he believed Metacom was planning to attack English settlers. The English authorities dismissed Sassamon’s claims because he was Indigenous. Historians hypothesize that Sassamon feared Metacom would kill him because he revealed his plans. 

The trial of the three Wampanoag men—Tobias, Wampapaquan, and Mattahunnamo—occurred with a jury of 12 English men and six Indigenous consultants in Plymouth Colony. Some of the Indigenous consultants came from Natick. William Nahauton, an Indigenous man who worked alongside Sassamon as a missionary and had kinship ties to Natick, identified Sassamon’s body and provided critical testimony during the trial. 

In early June 1675, the Wampanoag men were executed by English authorities in Plymouth Colony. It is important to note that, to this day, there is no evidence proving that Sassamon was murdered. Metacom interpreted these executions as a gross overstep of English authority and a violation of Wampanoag-English political and military agreements. The Narragansett Nation (in what English authorities called the Rhode Island colony), agreeing with Metacom, allied themselves with him and his followers, ending the Narragansett-English political and military alliance. By the end of June 1675, an all-out war had embroiled New England. 

What did Natick residents do during King Philip’s War? 

Natick residents allied themselves with the English at the outset of the war due to their military agreement from the 1650s. Some residents, such as Tom Wuttascompon, later known as “Captain Tom,” believed that the cultural similarities between Natick residents and the English made them “brothers,” and it would not make sense for them to fight each other.  

Natick's men worked as soldiers, scouts, and spies for the English. They knew the physical landscape of New England. Their understanding of Northeast Woodland and English-style politics, diplomacy, and cultures made them assets to the English and greatly feared by Metacom and his allies.

The names of some men frequently appeared in English records as soldiers, scouts, spies, and translators, including Zachary Abraham, Andrew Pittimee, James Speen, and John Magus. In his 1677 retelling of the war, Daniel Gookin, the Indian Superintendent for Massachusetts Bay Colony, emphasized that large groups of Natick men fought alongside the English and their Mohegan allies beginning immediately at the war's outset.  

During the battle of Quaboag in the central Massachusetts Bay Colony, allies of Metacom performed a mock church service. Due to the accuracy of the service, many English settlers assumed that these Indigenous people were Christian converts from “Praying Towns.” As a result, on August 30, 1675, the Massachusetts General Court passed an act confining residents of the missions to the center of their communities under English surveillance. The law stated that if a resident of a Praying Town was caught outside the center of the community without an English escort, they could be mistaken for an “enemy Indian,” and the English could kill them. An English person would not be prosecuted for killing an Indigenous person under these circumstances. The law preemptively blamed the victims by stating that their blood would be on their heads. Natick residents could no longer freely tend to their livestock or crops, hunt, or go to other towns and communities for trade or social purposes. They were barred from performing any paid day labor. Although nobody from Natick died due to this law, their economic well-being greatly suffered.

The war worsened pre-existing prejudices that many English settlers held against all Indigenous people, Christian or otherwise. Natick residents felt and were aware of this, especially as rumors began circulating about the community being deported to the Boston Harbor Islands. In October 1675, an abandoned structure in Dedham burned down. Stories quickly spread that Natick residents purposely set the structure on fire. Shortly after, by order of the Massachusetts General Court, all Natick residents, except for the elderly, sick, and men away at war, were rounded up and brought to Deer Island. They could only bring what they could carry and were forced to leave all their weapons, clothing, and provisions behind. The Massachusetts General Court claimed they deported Natick residents to protect them from the English and the English from them. In reality, their English allies betrayed the residents of Natick.

Life on Deer Island was dangerous, especially during the very harsh winter of 1675. Natick residents weren’t allowed to bring proper clothing, and the island did not contain the materials to build sufficient housing. Unable to grow food, they survived an inconsistent supply of clams.  Many people died of starvation, disease, or exposure to the cold. They lived under English surveillance. There is evidence that they experienced violence. “Old” Ahaton petitioned the General Court to be moved off of Deer Island to Long Island because he, as well as other prisoners, had been shot at (likely by an English soldier) and had nothing with which to defend themselves. 

Some men took advantage of limited and dangerous opportunities to leave the island. They continued working as soldiers, scouts, and spies for the English to earn provisions and protection for their families. The men also used these opportunities to reconnect with their kin who had stayed behind in Natick or lived in other communities. 

Natick men also petitioned the Massachusetts General Court to protect themselves and their loved ones from false imprisonment and enslavement. One example is the case of Tom Wuttsacomapon (also known as “Captain Tom”)  a man from Natick who was accused of being an ally of Metacom and arrested following accusations he had been seen in one of Metacom’s camps. Tom had already earned his honorary “captain” title fighting under English military command. He testified to the General Court that he was with Metacom’s men because they had captured him and held him captive. He later escaped to Natick to be with his Indigenous kin and the English again. He said he did so despite his fear of being sent to Deer Island. James Rumneymarsh of Natick testified on Captain Tom’s behalf, stating they served with the English together. Rumneymarsh later saw him living as a captive in a camp of Metacom’s soldiers. He noted that Tom was “weary of the fight.” However, two Englishmen claimed to have heard Captain Tom commanding Metacom’s troops. Captain Tom was hanged shortly afterward by order of the General Court. 

Other Natick residents petitioned the Court on behalf of their children or other kin and family members who had been enslaved. Throughout the war, large numbers of Indigenous peoples of all loyalties became enslaved in English households or deported to the Bahamas to be sold. 

How did the War End? What was life like for residents when they returned to Natick? 

On August 12, 1676, Metacom died in combat.  John Alderman, a Wampanoag convert to Christianity from what is now Dartmouth, MA, killed him. Alderman received Metacom’s dismembered head and hand as an award. Metacom’s death signaled the end of the war in southern New England. Notably, however, many residents of Christian missions, including Natick, advocated for a peaceful ending to the war long before the conflict's conclusion, often through diplomatic negotiation with their non-Christian Nipmuc kin. 

The Massachusetts General Court permitted surviving Natick residents on Deer Island to return to Natick.  Before the war, there were 15 Praying Towns throughout the Massachusetts Bay and Plymouth colonies. After the war, English authorities were only allowed to resettle a few communities. Indigenous converts who had not lived in Natick previously were forced to live in Natick following the war. Although many founding families of Natick returned to the community, due to the destruction of the war and the English restructuring of Indigenous spaces, the faces in Natick had changed.

The English rewarded many Natick residents for their service during the war by giving them commemorative military medals. However, Natick residents felt betrayed by the English for decades after the war. The English executed and enslaved Indigenous people who fought alongside Metacom, and Natick residents were sometimes falsely accused. The accusations increased after the English allowed Indigenous people to pardon themselves from any potential punishment if they came forward with the names of people who fought alongside Metacom. 

King Philip’s War undoubtedly tipped the scales in favor of English colonialism. Due to the decreased population numbers in Natick, the breakup of families, and the further encroachment of English settlers onto what had previously been accessible hunting or resource land, many Natick residents now had no choice but to rely on the English economy to make a living.  As Indigenous people, their options for employment were limited. Some men continued military service, and many women and children experienced decades of lifelong indentures in English homes. Indigenous peoples also found temporary periods of employment in other dangerous occupations, such as sailing on whaling vessels. These employment patterns continued well into the eighteenth century for many Natick families. 

However, the Indigenous community of Natick continued to survive due to its residents. Many community members continued prioritizing religion. Indigenous people maintained leadership roles in the church, and Daniel Takawampbait became the first, and likely only, fully ordained Indigenous Puritan minister in New England in 1683. He served as the second pastor of Natick’s church from 1690 until 1716. A second edition of the Massachusett language bible was printed in 1685. Surviving copies contain evidence that Natick-owned copies passed through familial and communal units. 

Indigenous people entirely governed the community as well. Thomas Waban became ruler according to Mosaic law following King Philip’s War. After his son Thomas Waban Jr. succeeded him, there is some evidence that the town shifted to a more traditional, non-Christian form of Northeast Woodland-style government during the last decades of the seventeenth century. 

Despite shifting ethnic and political dynamics in Natick during the eighteenth century and later, there is still a Natick Band of the Nipmuc Nation. Contemporary Nipmuc and other Indigenous peoples throughout New England continue to memorialize and come to grips with their ancestors’ experiences during King Philip’s War. Although a wastewater treatment facility owned by the Massachusetts Water Resources Authority now dominates Deer Island, descendants of Deer Island survivors remember their ancestors’ wartime experiences with an annual paddle from Natick to Deer Island. Many descendants continue to lobby for an on-island monument to honor their ancestors and teach non-Indigenous visitors about the island’s wartime history.

Contemporary Natick residents of all backgrounds continue to debate how to interpret the legacy of King Philip’s War as well. Look no further than the current discussions about the Post Office Mural. Presenting a jarring visual of half-naked Indigenous people in chains, accompanied by English soldiers with guns, being comforted by John Eliot, who features prominently in the center, this well-intentioned mural creates a particular view of the experiences of seventeenth-century Natick residents. Completed in 1937 by non-Indigenous Natick resident Hollis Holbrook and inspired by Sarah Sprague Jacobs’ 1853 book Nonantum and Natick, the mural played into mid-twentieth-century stereotypes about Indigenous peoples' physical appearances and experiences. It ignores the fact that seventeenth-century Natick residents wore English-style clothing. Additionally, Hollis modeled his Indigenous figures after twentieth-century Euro-American residents of Natick. To many contemporary Natick residents, the mural serves as a crass and insensitive depiction of a traumatic historical event. Other Natick residents argue that it is a memorialization of a tragic episode in Early American history that needs to be preserved.

Even the name of the war has undergone debate and revision in academic and popular circles. The term “King Philip’s War” became the more common name of the war during the nineteenth century. Many seventeenth-century English authors who wrote about the war’s events called it “the trouble with the Indians.” Due to their racial biases, many of these writers did not interpret the war as a true war. They also likely wanted to downplay the destruction caused by those they saw as inferior people. Later generations of Euro-American New Englanders called it the “First Indian War,”  “Metacom’s Rebellion,” the southern theater of the “First Anglo-Abenaki War,” and the “Great Narragansett War.”  Popular names for the war played into European biases about colonial conflict and often presented Indigenous peoples as the sole instigators. The term “Metacom’s Rebellion” presents the war as a disorganized attempt to overthrow a well-established colonial regime that ignores the shifting and delicate power balances in seventeenth-century New England. Even the name “King Philip’s War” overemphasizes the role of Metacom and erases the experiences of other Indigenous leaders and participants. It is unknown what seventeenth-century Natick residents called the war. Still, it is known that as the war progressed, protecting themselves from the English and their Indigenous kin became the center of their wartime experiences. It is possible that Metacom never really factored into the actions or motives of many Natick residents. 

King Philip’s War was the bloodiest war per capita fought on North American soil aside from the American Civil War. It changed the course of Indigenous, New England, and American histories. The war’s brutality and its long-lasting impacts can be difficult and upsetting to learn about, but understanding the role of Natick’s residents during the war adds nuance to twenty-first-century understandings of seventeenth-century history and highlights the survival and resilience of Indigenous peoples in the face of very brutal and complex colonialism. 

Works Cited: 

Primary Sources: 

Massachusetts Archives Collection Volume 30 

Gookin, Daniel. An Historical Account of the Doing and the Sufferings of the Christian Indians in New England in the Years 1675, 1676, 1677. North Stratford: Ayer Company Publishers, 2002.

Secondary Sources: 

Brooks, Lisa. Our Beloved Kin: A New History of King Philip’s War. New Haven: Yale University Press, 2018.

Delucia, Christine M.  Memory Lands: King Philip’s War and the Place of Violence. New Haven: Yale University Press, 2018. 

Drake, James D. King Philip’s War: Civil War in New England 1675-1676. University of Massachusetts Press, 1999.

Lepore, Jill. The Name of War: King Philip’s War and the Origins of American Identity. Vintage Books, 1998.

O’Brien, Jean M. Dispossession by Degrees: Indian Land and Identity in Natick, Massachusetts 1650-1790. Cambridge University Press, 1997.