Hidden Victims

Hidden Victims

I pass that hill everyday. I drive along its large base, turning near its northern slope. The marker sits low on the hill, barely noticeable except when the rays of sun hit it that certain way and a long dark shadow is cast across the grass. The small brass plate sits firmly planted atop the cold granite boulder. The blood has long since dried. The cries and screams are silent. The small pine booth sits at the base of the hill, full of information packets and maps concerning the events that took place there long ago. February of 1675 remains flat and echoless upon the pages of our town’s record books. Textbooks may touch on it briefly, if at all;

The war lasted only about fourteen months; and yet the towns of Brookfield, Lancaster, Marlborough, Medfield, Sudbury, Groton, Deerfield, Hatfield, Hadley, Northfield, Springfield, Weymouth, Chelmsford, Andover, Scituate, Bridgewater, and several other places were wholly or partially destroyed, and many of the inhabitants were massacred or carried into captivity. (Hudson)

Some historians have called it the “deadliest war in our history." Whose history is it though? Who caused it and how? All these questions have all their answers hidden away in dusty books on old wooden shelves. Undiscovered secrets; stories not told. The preserved colonist view is all that enters our textbooks, the view that we were the sole victims, we are the victors over the heathen savages. Victims are hidden.

Relations were peaceful. Massasoit, the noble leader of the Wampanoag Indians, was curious and friendly to these new visitors. Thanksgiving was shared mutually with these new inhabitants. The two cultures existed peacefully, and some assimilation occurred. No anger existed between the two worlds. He did his best to keep his mind and the minds of his people open, ensuring that the visitors would be safe from harm. A descendant of the Wampanoag tribe described Massaoit’s generosity and genuine curiosity.

When the first English came, Phillip’s father was a great man, and the English as a little child; he prevent other Indians from wronging them, gave them corn and showed them how to plant it…(Hubbard 275).

The proud leader even allowed his two sons to have English names in addition to their Indian ones. Existence seemed promising for each world, exchanging knowledge and goods.

The parade marches by, men and women dressed in colonial costume. Men walk by with painted faces and leather moccasins.