One day before Wampanoag tribes observed the 350th anniversary of Metacom Day, Aquinnah Wampanoag citizen and educator Brad Lopes brought the history of King Phillip’s War through a Wampanoag lens to the newly renovated Vineyard Haven Public Library.
Lopes presented about the war to community members and discussed the Wampanoag Tribe of Gay Head (Aquinnah), whose ancestors lived through the war and who continue to navigate the impacts of colonialism on the island of Nôepe, the indigenous name for Martha’s Vineyard, on Tuesday night.
Metacom, also historically known as King Phillip, was a Wampanoag chief who lived in Rhode Island and united multiple indigenous tribes to fight against English colonists in King Phillip’s War, which took place from 1675 to 1678. More than 3,000 indigenous people were killed during the war, while hundreds to more than a thousand were sold into slavery, Lopes said.
On August 12, 1676, Metacom was executed in Rhode Island, ending major indigenous resistance to colonial rule in southern New England. This year, 350 years later, the date celebrates Metacom’s legacy and serves as a time to reflect on the lasting impacts of the bloodiest war in American history per capita, Lopes said.
“It’s a reminder of all the moments that have led up to this moment right now. And even though Metacom himself passed away [more than] 300 years ago, his memory and his presence, as well as the things that he represents, have become a symbol over time,” Brad Lopes, the education manager for the Aquinnah Wampanoag Education Department, told The Times. “So for us personally, I think, it’s a day for many of us to remember these things, to sit in ceremony with these things, and to really figure out different ways that we can move forward; to build a different future for our people too.”
Roughly 50 years after Pilgrims landed on Massachusetts shores in 1620, tensions rose between settlers and the indigenous people who originally inhabited the land on the Island and across New England. Tribes across the area were concerned about land encroachment, cultural pressure, and erosion of indigenous sovereignty inflicted by colonists, Lopes said. And those tensions came to a head after the trial and execution of three Wampanoag men, who were accused of killing Metacom’s translator John Sassamon over suspicions of unfaithful translations, by the Plymouth Colony in 1675.
After that, New England colonies of Plymouth, Massachusetts Bay, Connecticut, and New Haven formed the New England Confederation, while Metacom united the Wampanoag and Narragansett Tribes to fight for political and cultural sovereignty in what today is known as King Phillip’s War.
Hundreds of years after his death, Metacom’s legacy remains a symbol of resistance and cultural endurance in the indigenous struggle for autonomy. Wampanoag tribes now observe August 12 as a recognized tribal holiday.
“Remembering, understanding, and sharing with the public the way that these moments from [more than] 300 years ago continue to impact us is really important to us as a community,” Lopes said after Tuesday’s event.
Throughout Tuesday’s talk, Lopes connected events from King Phillip’s War to the present, from land encroachment to the displacement and enslavement of thousands of indigenous people.
Lopes noted that many Wampanoag tribe members in the 1600s, including Metacom’s son and wife, were sent out of the country to places such as the Caribbean and even Morocco, according to documents.
“It is a certificate that is actually condemning over 100 men, women, and children to go into perpetual servitude in slavery,” Lopes pointed out before reading a portion of a document written by Josiah Winslow, the governor of Plymouth Colony.
Lopes explained that the name “King Phillip” is also steeped in controversy that symbolizes some of the war’s colonial roots. Wampanoag Chief Metacom took on the name “Phillip” in court to honor an agreement with English settlers, but there’s no record of him using it for himself, Lopes said. History, however, has remembered Metacom as “King Phillip.”
Lopes also said the war’s name redirects blame. “Who is being blamed for the war? Well, King Phillip. I think that is far too narrow and reductionist of an interpretation,” he said.
Lopes concluded the talk with a message about the impacts of the King Phillip’s War. “We see it so clearly — that connection — and I want more and more people to see that connection and see how it continues to ripple and impact our lives today,” he said to the nearly dozen attendees.
