Chapter III: Part 3

Death was the punishment for murder. The regular procedure was to bring the offender before the sachem, who would pass judgement. The condemned man was then blindfolded, compelled to kneel and was bludgeoned to death by the sachem. Revenge was eagerly sought by the kinsmen of a murdered man.[412] They might take matters into their own hands and seek out the offending party, especially if the formal channels of justice did not first offer them satisfaction.[413] This was more likely to happen when the suspect belonged to another tribe.[414] If he were a valuable man, his sachem might be reluctant to execute him.[415] In lieu of the actual offender, one of his close relatives might be executed for the offense.[416] It was also possible to escape retribution by purchasing forgiveness of the offended group of kinsmen if enough wampum or other goods could be given.[417]

Treason also was usually punished by death.[418] When the offender fled before his treachery was discovered, the sachem sent special messengers with his own knife to find and execute the guilty party. The head and hands were brought back to the sachem as proof of a mission accomplished.[419] This procedure was also used to dispatch suspected leaders of intrigues against the sachem when it was feared that a public execution might throw sentiment to the side of the traitor’s faction.[420]

Etiquette required that all punishments, whether beatings or death, were to be borne with a show of outward calm. If one were to cry out, show pain, or try to escape, it was considered to be an unspeakable disgrace.[421]

Serious disputes that could not otherwise be worked out might be settled by combat between the two parties involved. In this case, each man was armed with his bow and a quiver of arrows. They would cast lots for a choice of the tree to use as a shield. From behind their respective trees they would shoot at each other until one or the other was killed. The scars of wounds received in this kind of combat were displayed with a great deal of pride.[422]

Inter-tribal justice, as the preceding suggests, was of a dubious nature. If one tribe were wronged by a member of another, emissaries were sent to ask for compensation. Whether or not it was given was a matter up to the tribe of the offender. Satisfaction might involve taking the offender’s life or the payment of a fine to compensate for loss through theft or killing. If satisfactory reparations were not made the offended party usually tried to forcibly take the equivalent in lives or goods to what had been lost.[423]

SOCIAL PROBLEMS

Wampanoag society also had its problems of insanity, widows, orphans, old people, and poverty. Friends or relatives usually provided for those in need of care. If they could not, however, it was up to the sachem to see that the needy were sustained; it is said that no one in the tribe went unprovided for.[424]

SOCIAL STRATIFICATION

There were three basic divisions within Wampanoag society: (1) the sachem and members of the “royal family”; (2) ordinary members of the community; (3) resident non-members (generally captives of war) who acted as servants.[425] However, within these categories there was considerable difference in the wealth and importance of members. There were also statuses within the groupings that carried special implications, such as warrior, powow, wife of sachem, older man, etc.

There were certain visible signs of social standing in Wampanoag society. The person of wealth or noble birth wore zoomorphic tattoos on his face.[426] His house had mats of an especially fine quality.[427] He wore a lot of wampum and had it woven into caps and aprons to show his lack of immediate need for this money.[428] He could have more than one wife.[429] He might have servants to do household tasks, and his wife could have a nurse for the children.[430]

INTERPERSONAL RELATIONS

English observers of the Wampanoags were impressed with the hospitality the Indians showed toward one another.[431] Any visitor was provided with a share of whatever food the household had, even if provisions were low.[432] Regardless of when a guest arrived, the courteous thing to do was to first offer him food.[433] The guest was provided with a place to sleep—usually in the family bed. In the summer the visitor might be provided with a space by having a member of the household sleep outside.[434]

Hospitality can be linked to a basic cultural pattern of value placed on, and presumably prestige afforded by, generosity. The practice of giving away goods in a public display of generosity was previously discussed. By the same token, ingratitude was accounted the worst breech of manners. Not only did the donor thus lose his goods, but also the prestige of being acclaimed a generous man if his sacrifice was not noted by the proper thanks.[435]

The Wampanoags’ hospitable attitude also extended to the English, who were fed, sheltered, guided through the woods, and advised of the movements of strangers.[436] It would have been a great discourtesy for the English guests to have refused to join their Wampanoag host for a meal, even though they found some of the food un-palatable.[437]

Certain matters of protocol seem to have been highly formalized. A greeting gesture was to stick the tongue out as far as it would go and lick the hand from wrist to finger tips.[438]

When a visitor came calling to discuss a serious matter, the occasion began with solemn formality. He entered the house and sat silently by the fire. Remaining silent, he smoked a pipe of tobacco. Having finished his pipe the visitor presented his host with a gift. The host gratefully acknowledged the gift, and then the visitor explained his business in the course of a long speech.[439]

MARRIAGE AND FAMILY

When a man wished to marry he spoke first to the woman and then to her family. Permission of the sachem was also necessary.[440] The bride’s parents were paid a sum of wampum or other goods to compensate for the loss of their daughter, and the union was solemnized by the sachem.[441] A man might get help from his relatives to pay the bride-price.[442]

If a woman felt that she was being ill-treated or became displeased with her husband for some other reason she would leave him.[443] One way was to run away and join whatever tribe her husband’s group happened to be warring with at the time.[444] When a man wished to be rid of his wife, he sent her away from him. Adultery was one reason for divorcing a wife.[445] A woman with the reputation of an adulteress might not be able to find another man who would marry her; such women sometimes became prostitutes.[446]

Wampanoags were polygynous. When a man took additional wives, one, usually the first, remained as the chief or principal wife with some degree of authority over the other wives.[447] In actual practice, not many men had more than one wife at a time. Sachems, powerful powows, and men of rank and wealth might have additional wives; apparently not all of these chose to do so.[448]

There were two reasons given for having multiple wives. First, an additional worker made a more productive household.[449] Second, a man might take an additional wife after the birth of a child; sexual relations between husband and wife were prohibited until the infant was weaned, which might be a period of more than a year.[450]

It was not common for anyone to live alone. Single persons lived with their families, and widows, widowers, or divorced persons usually also lived with relatives until another marriage was made.[451]

REPRODUCTION

Expectant mothers did not vary their normal routine of heavy work. Observers of the period noted this practice and attributed to it the ease with which women were able to deliver children. In the case of a difficult birth, the services of the powow’s magic were sought.[452]

INFANCY AND CHILDHOOD

The few observations that were recorded suggest that the Wampanoags had a high birth rate and rather high infant mortality.[453] The high number of infant deaths may have been due in part to the fact that within three days after its birth the baby was being carried about on the mother’s back in all the tasks that she went about outside.[454] Moreover, the Wampanoag style of cradle board made no provision for a device to shield the infant’s face.[455]

A baby’s clothing consisted of a coating of grease and a beaver skin or other fur wrapping in which he was bound onto the cradle board. The child was tied so that his knees were drawn up against his stomach, then when the board was set down and leaned somewhere he would be in a sitting position.[456]

Babies were soothed by the lullabies of their mothers.[457] It is said that they were generally very quiet infants and cried little. The Wampanoags were extremely fond of their children, giving them a great deal of indulgence and affection.[458] Infants were not weaned until they were over a year old.[459] Such child-rearing practices resulted in children that were “sawcie, bold, and undutifull”, according to English eyes.[460]

EDUCATION

Education was probably for the most part informal. Children learned their adult roles by watching adult activities and by being encouraged in their attempts to copy. Such practical skills for survival as swimming were taught at an early age.[461] Little boys played at shooting toy bows and arrows.[462] Girls played with miniature cooking pots, and they also participated in the work of planting and tending the fields as soon as they were old enough.[463]

An education in the beliefs and values of the Wampanoag people was gained in part by listening to the stories told by parents and grandparents.[464]

INITIATION

The transition of young Wampanoags into adult status was marked by special observances. Boys and girls both underwent initiation ceremonies; there is almost no information of the nature of these observances for females.[465] For boys it was a lengthy process to finally achieve recognition as an adult member of the tribe. De Rasieres describes some of the aspects of Wampanoag initiation.

When there is a youth who begins to approach manhood, he is
taken by his father, uncle or nearest friend, and is conducted
blindfolded into a wilderness, in order that he may not know the
way, and is left there by night or otherwise, with a bow and
arrows, and a hatchet and a knife. He must support himself there a
whole winter with what the scanty earth furnishes at this season,
and by hunting. Towards the spring they come again, and fetch him
out of it, take him home and feed him up again until May. He must
then go out again every morning with the person who is ordered to
take him in hand; he must go into the forest to seek wild herbs and
roots, which they know to be the most poisonous and bitter; these
they bruise in water and press the juice out of them, which he must
drink, and immediately have ready such herbs as will preserve him
from death or vomiting; and if he cannot retain it, he must repeat
the dose until he can support it and until his constitution becomes
accustomed to it so that he can retain it.

Then he comes home, and is brought by the men and women all singing
and dancing, before the Sackima; and if he has been able to stand
it all well, and if he is fat and sleek, a wife is given to
him.[466]

Both boys and girls received new, adult names at the time of their initiation.[467]

MILITARY TECHNOLOGY

=Military Organization=: Although it is not known for certain, it seems likely that the groups of men called _pnieses_ constituted an elite military society that provided leadership in battles as well as being a policy-making body. Boys with the proper characteristics—courage, strength, stature, endurance, honesty, discretion, and courtesy—were trained from childhood to endure hardships in preparation for becoming a pniese. When they were of the proper age they were initiated into the society in a ceremony which involved physical ordeal and supernatural experience.[468] Pnieses performed feats of great courage and boldness and were considered to be immune to wounds by enemy weapons. These were the leaders in battle—the men who carried long spears.[469]

=Defensive Fortifications=: Winter villages were often fortified against attack. Fortifications were pallisade and ditch constructions. A pallisade consisted of upright poles of some ten to twelve feet high, set into the ground as close as possible. On the inside a breast-high ditch was dug, and dirt thrown up against the base of the uprights provided further protection during combat. Spaces between the poles served as loopholes. The fort had one or two entrances, depending on its circumference. These were formed by overlapping the ends of the wall.[470]

Forts varied considerably in size, and probably there was also variation from the above structural specifications. Sizes ranged from enclosures of about fifty feet across to areas of several acres.[471] The smaller fortified areas were probably meant for the use of small groups when away from the main community, perhaps during the hunting season. Thick woods and swamps also served as refuge areas for women and children in wartime.[472]

=Ordnance=: Weapons consisted of bows and arrows, clubs, and tomahawks. Knives were used for taking trophies. War leaders carried long spears. When guns, swords and other European war machines had been introduced into North America, these also were used. Wampanoag fortifications were not so effective against the guns as they had been against bows and arrows.[473]

=Uniform and Accoutrement=: The uniform of the Wampanoag was his war paint, described in the following passage: “When they goe to their warres, it is their custome to paint their faces with diversitie of Colours, some being all black as jet, some red, some halfe red and halfe blacke, some blacke and white, others spotted with divers kinds of colours....”[474] In addition, wampum and other ornaments were worn into battle.[475]

WAR

Motivations which could lead to war were revenge, boundary disputes, and power struggles within groups.[476] The instigation for war might come from the sachem or from some group among the people; generally the agreement of the sachem and his council was required before war could be undertaken.

Dancing and oratory were part of the preparations for battle, serving to incite the warriors. The following passage describes the pre-battle ritual:

There was one that kneeled upon a deer skin, with the company
around him in a ring, who kneeled, striking upon the ground with
their hands and with sticks, and muttering or humming with their
mouths. Besides him who kneeled in the ring there also stood one
with a gun in his hand. Then he on the deerskin made a speech,
and all manifested assent to it; and so they did many times
together. Then they bid him with a gun go out of the ring, which
he did; but when he was out, they called again; but he seemed to
make a stand. Then they called the more earnestly, till he turned
again. Then they all sang. Then they gave him two guns in each
hand one. And so he on the deerskin began again; and at the end
of every sentence in his speaking they all assented, and humming
or muttering with their mouths and striking upon the ground with
their hands. Then they bid him with the two guns go out of the
ring again, but he made a stand. So they called him with greater
earnestness; but he stood reeling and wavering as if he knew not
whether he should stand or fall, or which way to go. Then they
called him with exceeding great vehemency, all of them, one and
another. After a little while he turned in, staggering as he went,
with his arms stretched out, in each hand a gun. As soon as he
came in, they all sang and rejoiced exceedingly a while, and then
he upon the deerskin made another speech, unto which they all
assented in a rejoicing manner....[477]

The Wampanoags were skillful both in the use of their weapons and in avoiding enemy fire. In the woods, where most fighting seems to have been done, warriors used trees for cover. In the open, bark shields were used to ward off arrows, and the fighters were skillful at dodging out of the way.[478] As a rule, when a warrior had run out of arrows he left the battle.[479] As a result, mortality was not high, judged by the standards of European wars of the period. In a large battle, however, as many as twenty men might be lost.[480]

The tactic of surprise was used whenever possible. The occasion of a storm that would drive the enemy indoors was a good opportunity for attack; warriors could enter the village unnoticed and strike down the foe in their houses before they could organize for defense.[481]

Sometimes battles took place on the water. One reporter describes seeing thirty or forty canoes full of men engaged in a pitched battle.[482]

Warriors who were killed, or wounded so they could not escape, had their heads, hands, and feet hacked off and carried away as trophies.[483] Scalping was a practice that appeared late in the seventeenth century; it may have been a European introduction.[484] Most male captives faced a death by torture. Female captives were kept alive; it is likely that they were adopted into the tribe as wives or servants.[485]

IDEAS ABOUT NATURE AND MAN

From childhood the Wampanoags learned to make certain observations of the stars, planets, and of the seasons and weather.[486] The time of day was measured by the height of the sun in the day and by the moon and stars at night.[487] Longer spans of time were kept account of in terms of the moon and of “summers” and “winters”.[488] Reckoning according to the moon, they had thirteen months, each with its own name.[489] Many of the stars were named; the north star was called _Maske_, meaning “bear”.[490] Winds were named according to their direction; of these there were seven to nine.[491] By observing the winds and the sky the Wampanoags made fairly accurate weather predictions.[492]

SICKNESS

The Wampanoag practice of sweat bathing was thought to have both therapeutic and preventive benefits. First the sweat house was heated by putting a great number of hot stones inside. Then the naked bathers entered and the door was stopped up. The bathers sat inside, smoking their pipes for as long as they could bear the heat—perhaps an hour or so. The sweat bath was then terminated by a dash outside and a plunge into the cold water of a nearby lake or stream. Sweat bathing was said to cleanse and refresh the body and thus be good for general health. It was also used to cure diseases, sometimes in combination with other types of remedies.[493]

Herbal remedies were used for their therapeutic effect on both diseases and wounds.[494] The Wampanoags are said to have had great skill in the use of such remedies.[495] The Wampanoag theory of herbal remedies was that each symptom had a specific herbal cure.[496] For example, the cure for toothache was “... a certaine root dried, not much unlike our ginger”.[497] A different herb would be used to relieve stomach aches, and so on.

Wounds and diseases were also cured by magical means. Curing by magic seems to have been used in cases where the suspected cause of the illness was also magical. This malevolent magic was usually manifest in the form of an “evil spirit” put into the ailing person’s body to cause him pain. Healing by magic was the special province of the _powow_.[498]

When a person was quite ill, all his friends and relatives would crowd into his wigwam and gather around him. If someone could not be there in person, he sent a representative.[499] This audience joined in the powow’s chanting at certain points during the ritual.[500] Wood gives the following description of magical curing procedure:

... after violent expressions of many a hideous bellowing and
growning, he makes a stop, and then all the auditors with one voice
utter a short Canto; which done, the Pow-wow still proceeds in his
invocations sometimes roaring like a Beare, other times groaning
like a dying horse, foaming at the mouth like a chased boar,
smiting on his naked brest and thighs with such violence, as if he
were madde. Thus will hee continue sometimes halfe a day, spending
his lungs, sweating out his fat, and tormenting his body in this
diabolicall worship....[501]

Next the powow would suck on the afflicted part of the patient’s body and, being an expert at sleight of hand, pretend to remove an object—a small stone, or twig or the like—from the body and display it for all to see. This object, it was claimed, was the “evil spirit” that was the cause of the trouble. Sometimes it was thought that the powow from some other group had brought on the illness in the first place.[502]

Both men and women engaged in curing activities.[503] It may have been that there was a division between the use of herbal and magical cures, with magically caused illness and magical cures being the province of male powows, and functional illness being cured by specific herbal formulas which were non-magical in their effect and which were the province of women skilled in this art. This was true of some other Northeastern Algonquian groups. Where such a division occurred, there was little or no infringement of one group on the methods that were the property of the other. When symptoms did not respond to the normal herbal treatment, or when they were recognized to be supernatural in origin from the start, magical cures were resorted to.[504] Curers were paid well for their efforts, and those who were successful became wealthy and influential members of the community.[505]

If a patient recovered, his friends and relatives would send corn and other sorts of gifts to him, and at a certain time a feast (called _commoco_) would be held in honor of the recovery.[506] Sometimes in asking the supernatural to remove a sickness it was necessary to provide gifts as a sacrifice.[507] This seems to have been a practice resorted to in particularly grave situations. In one instance, when several people had died in an epidemic, the entire village gathered to perform a curing ritual to drive out the sickness. The wealthier people danced and gave away great quantities of wealth to the poor; ultimately a messenger was sent to intercede in person with the supernatural.[508] Epidemics were greatly feared, and in the case of a known contagious disease, the usual practice of friends and relatives coming to visit the sick was not carried out. In such instances often the entire village would be abandoned.[509]

DEATH

Death and the dead were greatly feared by the Wampanoags.[510] Theories as to the causes of death are little noted by the European chroniclers; there was, however, the idea that the death of a child could result from supernatural anger with the parent.[511] After death the “good” were thought to go to the southwest, where they would lead an idyllic existence. Less fortunate people were doomed to wandering about aimlessly.[512]

Burial prepared the deceased for his journey to the southwest. Hazards were expected along the way (a large dog is one that is mentioned.)[513] For this reason, and because the afterlife was expected to be like earthly existence, the equipment of life—weapons, wampum, ornaments, pots, and the like were buried along with the dead.[514] In the case of children, the parents might make gifts of special ornaments and treasures and put them into the grave.[515]

One specially appointed person, “commonly some wise, grave, and well-descented man” had the job of preparing the corpse for burial and committing it to the earth.[516] Woven mats were used to line the grave. Boards might be placed in as lining for the grave of an important person, likewise a greater wealth of possessions and richer covering of mats indicated a person of higher station.[517] The body was placed into the grave in a sitting position—arms were drawn across the chest and knees were bent up; it was covered with a mat.[518] To mark an important grave a skin mantle might be hung nearby and left there until it rotted.[519] It was also reported that monuments were raised over the graves of great men, but there is no indication of what these might have been.[520]

There was considerable mourning and display of grief for the dead. Both men and women painted their faces black to signify grief.[521] Women would paint their faces as soon as an illness appeared to be serious, but men did not do so until death had occurred.[522] At the moment of death the assembled spectators would begin wailing and lamenting, men and women alike.[523]

Adults were buried in or near the house, after which all the mats were taken down from the house, leaving only the frame remaining, and it was abandoned forever.[524] The company of friends and relatives would gather around the corpse as it lay at the grave’s edge and lament copiously.[525] They would continue to mourn thus for many days; the length of mourning increased with the importance of the deceased. In the case of a very important person, such as a sachem, the period of mourning might last for a year.[526] The black face paint was worn throughout the period of mourning, and it was often seen to be caked by tears.[527] Upon the death of a child, the father might cut off his proud long hair and inflict wounds upon his body.[528] The anniversary of the death was kept by a brief period of renewed mourning, the face again being blackened.[529] The name of a deceased person was not to be mentioned again. If anyone living had a similar name, he would change it.[530]

Concern was also shown for the family of the deceased. Friends would often visit offering words of consolation “... which they express by stroking the cheeke and head of the father or mother, husband or wife of the dead”.[531] Widows or widowers, left then without a house, would take up residence with a related family or perhaps move about among the homes of their relatives for a time, where they were comforted.[532]

RELIGIOUS BELIEFS[A]

The world of the Wampanoags was well-populated with supernatural beings and forces. Of these, one was a sort of generalized power, called _Manitou_.[533] Many early observers of the Indians of northeastern North America, where this concept is widespread, developed the mistaken idea that “Manitou” referred to an anthropomorphic supreme being. Actually, Manitou is a force rather than a person. It could perhaps best be likened to that force for good luck that many Europeans think can be found in horse shoes, four-leaf clovers, etc. thus, when a Wampanoag performed an exceptional feat he was said to have Manitou, or supernatural power. Likewise, certain objects, animals, and physical features on the landscape were thought to have Manitou in them, because someone had had good luck right after seeing or touching them. This could have happened so far in the past that it was remembered only in mythology. Or, perhaps the whole incident was a vision in a dream.[534]

A related concept is something that can be called animal spirits.[535] These were supernaturals in animal form, who could interfere in the lives and fates of human beings. Whether the power of these animals was identical to Manitou is not known, and it is quite possible that the relationship was not too clearly worked out in the minds of the Indians either.

A great deal of emphasis was placed upon dreams.[536] A Wampanoag who wanted supernatural help could seek a dream in which one of the animal spirits would appear to him and agree to help him, often by becoming his guardian spirit.[537] He would then call upon this supernatural helper throughout his life for whatever aid its power enabled it to give. Crows and rabbits in particular represented animal spirits, and they were not supposed to be killed.[538]

Powows also had animal spirits that they obtained through dreams. Either the animal itself or the kind of supernatural power that the animal had (it is not possible to tell which from existing data) came to dwell within the powow. He could then send this spirit out to do his bidding.[539] Usually there were several such animal spirits dwelling within one powow.[540]

Also part of the supernatural world were the ghosts of the dead. They lingered near the camps of the living and caused trouble, often in the form of illness.[541]

The Wampanoags also had anthropomorphic supernaturals. One of these was Kiehtan, a high god who was responsible for the creation of the world and all in it, and who could influence the prosperity of the Wampanoags. He was called upon for plenty, victory, and general favor in various undertakings. His home was in the southwest, the place where spirits of the good went upon death.[542] According to some accounts this was also the place where other kinds of spirits lived.[543]

Another supernatural was Hobomock (Abamacho). The Europeans immediately identified this being with the Devil, because he had an association with snakes, seemed to be able to cause harm to people, and was often feared. Actually, he seems to have been capable of both help and harm; his role in the supernatural pantheon is not at all clear. Hobomock would actually appear to the more important Wampanoags, taking the form of an animal or bird, and most frequently a snake. He was called upon in time of sickness to cure people. One never dared to call upon Kiehtan in time of illness for fear it might have been he in the first place who sent the sickness as punishment. If the illness was sent by Kiehtan, however, Hobomock could not cure it.[544]

Mythology had it that people were made by Kiehtan (Kautantowwit). He first made a man and a woman out of stone, but, as he did not like them, he broke them into many pieces and proceeded to make another man and woman out of a tree. These he liked, and their progeny populated the earth.[545] Corn and beans were brought by the crow, who carried in one ear a kernel of corn and in the other a bean, which he had gotten from the field belonging to Kiehtan.[546]

The Wampanoags attributed a great deal of what happened to them in their daily lives to supernatural activity.[547] Sometimes it was hard to determine at once whether a condition resulted from “natural” or supernatural causes. A supernaturally caused illness, for example, would often go unrecognized until conventional herbal techniques proved of no avail in bringing relief. Bad luck and accidents were usually blamed on the supernatural.[548] Winning at games was considered to be done as a result of supernatural aid, which was invoked throughout the period of play. Bargaining, pleading, and threatening were all methods used to bring supernatural favor upon one’s activities and to dispel any unfavorable supernatural influences.

RELIGIOUS PRACTICES

In the event of war, drought, famine, and for some cases of sickness, ceremonial activities which constituted requests for supernatural aid were carried out.[549] To beg for rain, people from all localities of the tribe would gather at some high place and perform supplications until the drought was broken.[550] Other ceremonials were occasioned by a spirit of thanksgiving for peace, health, plenty, and prosperity.[551]

As nearly as can be told, ceremonial activity encompassing all of the above circumstances involved dancing and sacrifice of personal wealth to please the supernatural. The sacrifice of wealth might take either the form of gifts to the poor or actual destruction of property by casting it upon the fire.[552] This latter custom was carried out by the Narragansetts, and the more a man brought to burn up, the more he was esteemed. The Wampanoags said they did not cast goods into the fire, but they acknowledged this to be a powerful practice and attributed to it the Narragansetts’ salvation from the plague.[553] The seeking of supernatural assistance was highly pragmatic; if one supernatural source did not send the desired aid, another was tried until the proper combination was discovered.[554]

The Wampanoags placed a great deal of importance upon dreams. A bad dream was considered to be a threat from the supernatural, and a man awakening from one would fall to offering prayers of supplication. If the vision were especially ominous, a man might call in his friends to keep watch with him. He would offer them food, but he himself kept a fasting and wakeful watch for several days and nights.[555]

Among the Wampanoags, names had supernatural significance. “Obscure and mean persons amongst them....” had no names.[556] Probably such persons were resident non-members of the tribe and youngsters who had not yet undergone initiation. Once received, a name was a closely guarded piece of personal property. It was considered discourteous to refer to or call a person by his true name. Instead, a circumlocution or a substitute pronoun was used.[557]

ECCLESIASTICAL ORGANIZATION

The Wampanoags only religious practitioner was the powow. His role was that of intermediary between the humans and the supernatural.[558] When illness was thought to be of supernatural origin he was called in to determine the kind of force at work and to carry out the proper ceremonies to restore health.[559] For this work he received payment in advance. Should the patient not recover, his relatives were apt to be angry with the powow; they would demand the return of the fee and perhaps his life if they felt that deception had been involved.[560]

Certain of the powow’s activities were deliberately misleading. He often used tricks to help demonstrate his command of supernatural powers. A powow was said to be able to accomplish such feats as making water burn, turning ashes into green leaves in the winter, making ice appear upon water in the summer, or turning himself into a “flaming man”. His skill at sleight of hand aided in the working of some of these wonders.[561]

A man became a powow by having a dream in which he was promised the type of supernatural power that would make him a powerful religious practitioner.[562] The man announced this dream to others on the following day, and in the course of a two-day celebration it was proclaimed that he was a powow.[563] The success and competence of the new powow would be judged by his future performance.

APPENDIX

Tools and Appliances

This section contains a list of some Wampanoag tools and appliances described by early observers. Where processes of manufacture and methods of use are known and have not been more appropriately included in previous sections they will be found in the following pages. Basketry, clothing, and ornaments are thoroughly described elsewhere.

The descriptive notes are arranged in the following order: item, followed by use (where known), followed by material (where known), followed by any details of construction, etc., followed by references as to location of the data in the literature.

BOW: weapon and hunting: walnut or “wich hasell”; 5-6′ long,
painted black and yellow; strung with twisted sinew thicker than
European boxstrings of the time; effective range “six to seven
score”. (Josselyn, p. 257; Bushnell, p. 675; Wood, pp. 97, 101;
Howe, p. 71)

ARROW: weapon, hunting, fishing; shaft of “young elderne”; 18″
long; made with detachable tips, the point bound to a 6-8″ piece
of wood, which is then inserted in a socket in the main shaft and
held by binding; fletching of long, broad, black feathers of eagle,
vulture, or kite, attached with glue and binding. (Wood, p. 100;
Mourt’s Relation, p. 183; Howe, p. 71)

ARROW POINTS: stone—quartz (generally white), slate (Chapin, p. 3);
metal—copper, iron, brass; triangular or “hart shaped” (Brereton,
p. 43-44; Williams, p. 137; Wood, p. 100; Willoughby, pp. 237-39),
bone (Willoughby, pp. 237-39); end of tail of horseshoe crab.
(Howe, p. 120)

FISHING SPEAR: shaft wood; point stone (quartz—usually white—or
slate) or metal—iron, copper, (Chapin, p. 3; Brereton, pp. 43-44;
Williams, p. 137; Bushnell, p. 675)

LONG SPEAR: carried into battle by a chief and used for carrying
back the heads of slain enemies; metal blade attached for point.
(Wood, p. 95; Gookin, p. 152, Lechford, p. 120)

KNIFE: handle antler; blade stone (quartz, flint, or slate)
or metal; hafted by insertion of the blade into sleeve cut in
handle; handle might be decorated by incised lines; two holes
drilled diagonally until they meet to form an opening provide for
suspending cord. (Willoughby, p. 239-40, illustrated; Chapin, p. 30)

HARPOON: used in fishing. (Wood, p. 100-101; Williams, p. 137)

GAMING PIECES: playing _Puim_; small reeds of about a foot long; 50
to 60 make up a set. (Wood, p. 83)

GAMING PIECES: playing _Hubbub_; bone dice, painted black on one
side, white on the other; sets of five. (Wood, p. 83)

GAMBLING TRAY: used in hubbub; carved and polished wood. (Wood, pp.
96-98)

BOWL OR DISH: eating stews, etc.; wood burls, including elm and
maple; well smoothed and polished, sometimes with handle carved to
represent animal. (Willoughby, p. 258; Mourt’s Relation, p. 144;
Morton, pp. 158-59; Bushnell, p. 675)

PAIL: carrying water; birch bark; square, bail-type handle, two to
three gallon capacity; made by “skillful folding” (probably sewn
together). (Gookin, p. 151)

HAND BASKET: use not stated; “made of crabshells wrought together”.
(Mourt’s Relation, p. 144)

CLAY POT: cooking; thin, about the same thickness as iron pots;
sizes quart to gallon. (Morton, p. 158; Mourt’s Relation, p. 144;
Wood, p. 75; Gookin p. 151)

STONE BOWLS: soapstone; with or without ears or handles; known
examples are rather rough of finish. (Chase, p. 900; Chapin, p. 15)

KETTLE: cooking; iron, brass, copper. (Wood, p. 75; Gookin, p. 151)

DRINKING CUPS: unworked shell (_Fulgur canaliculata_); copper,
broad and shallow (“skull-shaped”). (Willoughby, pp. 237-39;
Brereton, pp. 43-44)

BOX: birch bark. (Bushnell, p. 675)

HOE: cultivating and preparing gardens; wood and clamshell.
(Williams, p. 176; Wood, p. 87; Howe, pp. 116-17)

SPOON: eating stews, etc.; Wood (burls of elm, maple, or other),
finely finished, handle often elaborately carved in openwork or
other ornamental figures; Bone (one example), U-shaped, 104 × 41
mm, three small perforations in flat end for hafting; Deer antler;
Sheet copper and brass (Willoughby, pp. 237-39, 258; Bushnell, pp.
675, 683-4; Gookin, p. 151)

LADLE: burl of elm, maple, or other. (Willoughby, p. 258; Gookin,
p. 151)

SNOWSHOES: round, “bearpaw” type, rectangular weaving[B]; three
crossbars; netting attached to frame by wrapping. The toe hole,
characteristic of most North American snowshoes, is lacking.
(Davidson, pp. 31-2, 96)

MOULDS: for casting pipes, buttons, small ornaments, shot and
bullets of all sizes; slate or other suitable stone; both one and
two piece. (Willoughby, p. 243-44; Bradford, p. 52)

CRADLE BOARD: wood (perhaps also bark); forked shaped ends,
dimensions 2 × 1 feet; braided strap for tying on child; furs for
covers. (Bushnell, p. 675; Wood, p. 108; Morton, p. 147)

TORCHES: as fishing lures and for lighting inside houses; birch
bark or pitch pine; splints or cloven pieces bound into a bundle.
(Bushnell, p. 675; Willoughby, p. 294)

FISH HOOKS: bone—one form consists of the shank bone of a fawn,
ends cut off to make a tubular shape 120 mm. long; line is
looped through the tube; catches by fish swallowing. Wood with a
spear-shaped piece of bone attached at more or less right angle,
producing a fang-shape; point lashed on with hemp. Iron (imported
ready made from Europe). (Bushnell, p. 675; Howe, pp. 110-15; Wood,
p. 100)

NET SINKERS: for keeping stationary net in place; stone. (Chapin,
p. 11)

FISH DRYING SCAFFOLDS: no descriptions. (Wood, p. 107)

ROASTING SPIT: for cooking meat over the fire inside the house;
stick of wood, notched at one end, other end sharpened to stick
into ground. (Wood, p. 75)

BUTTONS: pewter, made by casting; decorated. (Illustrated in
Willoughby, p. 243, fig. 131)

LARGE PIPES: carved wood, stone (probably soapstone), carvings to
represent men and animals; 2 feet long. (Williams, pp. 72-3)

SMALLER PIPES: soapstone (made in imitation of the English style),
pewter, clay, brass, combinations of these—stone with brass
bound bowl, clay stem with bowl of copper. (Williams, pp. 72-3;
Willoughby, pp. 243-4, 240; Chapin, p. 17; Brereton, p. 38)

PESTLE: for grinding; stone; one example with top carved to
represent an animal’s head. (Bushnell, p. 675; Willoughby, pp.
237-9)

STONE MORTAR: containing material during grinding (corn
specifically mentioned); sized from immovable boulder to a smaller
portable style to cup size (for grinding pigments).

WOODEN MORTAR: used with stone pestle for corn and probably other
uses similar to stone mortar; trough-shaped. (Bushnell, p. 675)

ADZE: woodworking; wood handle and stone head; head smooth and
convex on one side, often double-grooved on the other side for
hafting; sizes run from two to ten inches in length, also with
imported European iron head. (Willoughby, 237-39)

AXE: woodworking; wood handle, stone head; differ quite markedly
in weight, thickness, polish, workmanship, and size; approximately
bi-symmetrical; large ones grooved to hold sinews that bind head
to handle. Iron head; both axe and hatchet size (from Europeans).
(Williams; p. 176; Chapin, pp. 6-7).

DRILLS: for beads; stone, later metal. (Williams, p. 176)

SCRAPERS: woodworking (probably something similar used in skin
preparation); clam and oyster shell. (Wood, p. 102)

CHISEL: beaver incisor hafted onto some sort of handle.
(Willoughby, pp. 237-39)

AWL: bone. (Willoughby, pp. 237-39)

NEEDLE: sewing mats together; bone (“splinter bone of a cranes
legge”) half of the split rib of a deer. (Morton, p. 135;
Willoughby, pp. 244-45)

BAG FOR CARRYING PARCHED CORNMEAL: leather; long pouch worn around
the waist. (Wood, p. 76)

TOBACCO BAG: for carrying pipe and tobacco; worn hung down the
back. (Williams; pp. 72-3)

QUIVER: contain arrows; woven bulrushes; length one yard; one is
described as having a decorative band about one foot wide on the
top and about six inches wide at the bottom of the quiver, in red
diamonds and patterns of other colors. (Winslow, p. 307; Howe, p.
71)

CLUB: weapon. (Gookin, p. 152)

TOMAHAWK: weapon; wood handle with sharp stone fastened into it.
(Gookin, p. 152)

SHIELD: bark. (Gookin, p. 152)

COMB: one example, made of moose horn, perhaps unique in shape,
consisted of small set of teeth at the end of a very long handle.
(Bushnell, p. 683)

DUGOUT CANOE: pine or chestnut; size variable—some 40-50 feet long
will carry 20 people; others are about one and a half to two feet
wide and twenty feet long; hollowed out of tree trunks. (Wood, p.
102; Gookin, p. 152)

BIRCH BARK CANOES: sizes probably various—one that would carry
nine passengers was 17′ × 4′, weighing about 60 pounds; another
had a seating capacity of five or six. Seams were closed by sewing
“oziers or twigs” and pitched; ends were pointed, fore and aft,
but the bow curved slightly upwards. Inside were thin, broad ribs.
(Wood, p. 102; Pring, p. 58; Gookin, pp. 152-53)

CANOE PADDLES: ash or maple; lightweight, length about two yards,
flat on the ends. (Pring, p. 58)

SAILS: used occasionally; mast of small pole; consisted of skins
of the sort used for mantles, one or two of these used at a time.
(Williams, p. 133)

TOYS: bow and arrow: bow of a stick and arrows of reeds; Pottery
vessels (miniature). (Wood, pp. 97-98; Willoughby, pp. 237-39)

SCAFFOLD FOR HANGING POTS OVER FIRE: see p. 64

FIRE-MAKING KIT

FISHING LINE

FISHING NET

EUROPEAN IMPORTS: in addition to those already mentioned, the
following items of European technology were obtained and used by
the Wampanoags: tin cups; pails of tin and iron; wooden chests;
glass bottles; weapons—guns, pistols, sword and rapier blades,
hatchets, and axes. (Gookin, pp. 151-52; Mourt’s Relation, p. 144)

FOOTNOTES

[A] Observation by writers of the period tend to be heavily biased by their own intense interest in Christianity, making them less useful for ethnographic purposes than most of the contemporary comment. Therefore this section can be little more than a listing of a few of the traits that comprised Wampanoag religious beliefs.

[B] D. S. Davidson, “Snowshoes,” MEMOIR OF THE AMERICAN PHILOSOPHICAL SOCIETY, #6 (Philadelphia, 1937), pp. 31-2. “As the name implies, rectangular weaving consists of a series of warp and woof strands interwoven at right angles, in most cases in an over one under one fashion. Since embellishments in the forms of double strands, twists, and half hitches are often found, the term ‘rectangular’ has been selected as better suited than ‘plaiting’. This type of weaving is almost limited to North America. It is concentrated in Alaska and the Mackenzie region.... Elsewhere in North America it occurs sporadically.”

NOTES

[1] Alden T. Vaughan, NEW ENGLAND FRONTIER: PURITANS AND INDIANS 1620-1675, p. 54.

[2] “And though there be difference in a hundred miles’ distance of place, both in language and manners, yet not so much but that they very well understand each other. And thus much of their lives and manners.”; Edward Winslow, “Winslow’s Relation” in CHRONICLES OF THE PILGRIM FATHERS OF THE COLONY OF PLYMOUTH FROM 1602 TO 1625, Alexander Young, ed. pp. 366-67; also Roger Williams, A KEY INTO THE LANGUAGE OF AMERICA: OR AN HELP TO THE LANGUAGE OF THE NATIVES IN THAT PART OF AMERICA, CALLED NEW-ENGLAND, p. 20; Daniel Gookin, HISTORICAL COLLECTIONS OF THE INDIANS IN NEW ENGLAND, p. 149. Willoughby states that the Massachusetts, Wampanoags, Narragansetts, and Nipmucs, together with the Nontauks of Long Island formed a dialect group by themselves; Charles C. Willoughby, ANTIQUITIES OF THE NEW ENGLAND INDIANS, p. 276.

[3] Vaughan, p. 54.

[4] Gookin, p. 158.

[5] James Mooney, “The Aboriginal Population of America North of Mexico,” SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS LXXX (February 6, 1928), p. 3.

[6] Douglas Edward Leach, FLINTLOCK AND TOMAHAWK: NEW ENGLAND IN KING PHILIP’S WAR (New York, 1959), p. 1.

[7] Professor Demitri Shimkin, personal communication.

[8] Vaughan, p. 53.

[9] Emmanuel Altham, “Emmanuel Altham to Sir Edward Altham, September, 1623”, THREE VISITORS TO EARLY PLYMOUTH, Sydney V. James, Jr., ed. (Plimoth Plantation, 1963), p. 29; Gookin, p. 158.

[10] Altham, p. 29.

[11] Gookin, p. 158.

[12] Figures on Wampanoag population, unlike the case for several other New England groups, are not abundant. This is the only estimate found by the author; Leach, p. 1.

[13] Mooney, p. 3.

[14] Ibid.

[15] Vaughan, p. 28.

[16] In actual fact, exposure to the sun, the usual coating of grease, and an inevitable layer of dust must have altered skin color somewhat.

[17] Willoughby, pp. 230-31.

[18] Ibid.

[19] Ibid., p. 66. The Narragansetts’ name for the Englishmen was “knive men”; Williams, p. 176.

[20] Willoughby, p. 243.

[21] Ibid., pp. 243-44; Williams, pp. 72-73.

[22] William Bradford, HISTORY OF PLYMOUTH PLANTATION 1620-1647, II (Boston, 1912), pp. 52-53.

[23] For an example of the Indians’ sentiment toward the embrace of Christianity, the following passage from Wood: “... since the English frequented those parts, they daily fall from his the devil’s colours, relinquishing their former fopperies, and acknowledge our God to be supreame. They acknowledge the power of the Englishmans God, as they call him, because they could never yet have power by their conjurations to damnifie the English either in body or goods; and besides, they say hee is a good God that sends them so many good things, so much good corne, so many cattell, temperate raines, faire seasons, which they likewise are the better for since the arrivall of the English; the time and seasons being much altered in seven or eight years, freer from lightning and thunder, long droughts, suddaine and tempestuous dashes of raine, and lamentable cold Winters.”; William Wood, NEW ENGLAND’S PROSPECT (Boston, 1865), p. 94.

[24] M. K. Bennett, “The Food Economy of the New England Indians,” THE JOURNAL OF POLITICAL ECONOMY, LXIII (October, 1955), p. 395.

[25] John Elliot, quoted in Edward Winslow, “The Glorious Progress of the Gospel Amongst the Indians in New England,” Massachusetts Historical Society, COLLECTIONS, Ser. 3 IV (Boston, 1834), p. 81.

[26] Willoughby, pp. 297-98.

[27] Bennett, pp. 385-86; Leach, p. 3; Thomas Morton, THE NEW ENGLISH CANAAN (Boston, 1883), p. 138; Williams, pp. 74-75; Willoughby, pp. 297-98; Wood, pp. 100-101.

[28] Gookin, pp. 150-51. According to the account by Champlain, the artichoke, _Helianthus tuberosa_, was actually cultivated by the Indians; Henry F. Howe, PROLOGUE TO NEW ENGLAND (New York and Toronto, 1943), pp. 72-73. Williams, pp. 120-22; Willoughby, pp. 297-99; Wood, pp. 75-76.

[29] Williams mentions another kind of berry, for which he did not know the name, “... growing in fresh Waters all the Winter, Excellent in conserve against Feavers”. The editor of Williams’ work suggests that perhaps this was the cranberry; Williams, pp. 120-21.

[30] Willoughby, p. 299.

[31] Bennett, pp. 385-86; Frank G. Speck and Ralph W. Dexter, “Utilization of Marine Life by the Wampanoag Indians of Massachusetts,” JOURNAL OF THE WASHINGTON ACADEMY OF SCIENCES XXXVIII (Menasha, August 15, 1948), p. 262; Vaughan, p. 30; Willoughby, pp. 297-98; Wood, p. 170.

[32] Wood, p. 170.

[33] Vaughan, p. 30; Williams, pp. 115-16.

[34] Williams, p. 115; Wood, p. 75.

[35] Williams, p. 116.

[36] Ibid., p. 115.

[37] Ibid.

[38] Ibid.

[39] Ibid., pp. 188-193; Vaughan, p. 30; Wood, pp. 98-100.

[40] Ibid.

[41] Williams, pp. 188-193.

[42] Wood, pp. 98-99.

[43] MOURT’S RELATION OR JOURNAL OF THE PLANTATION OF PLYMOUTH (London, 1622), reprinted in Alexander Young, CHRONICLES OF THE PILGRIM FATHERS FROM 1602-1625, Alexander Young, ed. (Boston, 1841), pp. 136-37; Williams, pp. 188-193; Winslow, p. 362; Wood, pp. 98-100.

[44] Wood, pp. 99-100.

[45] MOURT’S RELATION, pp. 136-37.

[46] Wood, pp. 99-100.

[47] Williams, pp. 188-193.

[48] Ibid.

[49] Ibid.

[50] Ibid.

[51] Ibid.; Wood, pp. 99-100.

[52] Williams, pp. 188-193; Winslow, p. 362.

[53] Williams, pp. 188-93.

[54] Ibid., Wood, pp. 99-100.

[55] Williams, pp. 188-93.

[56] Wood, pp. 99-100.

[57] “... it being the custome of the Indians to burne wood in November when the grass is withered, and leaves dryed.”; Wood, p. 17. “The Salvages are accustomed to set fire of the Country in all places where they come, and to burne it twize a yeare, viz. at the Spring and the fall of the leafe”; Morton, p. 172.

[58] Wood, p. 101.

[59] Bradford, I, p. 168; D. S. Byers, “The Environment of the Northeast”, MAN IN NORTHEASTERN NORTH AMERICA, Frederick Johnson, ed. (Andover, 1946), p. 25; Williams, p. 136.

[60] turbot, halibut, plaice, flounder.

[61] resembles a smelt.

[62] Champlain in Howe, pp. 110-115; Gookin, p. 150. It is not really possible to tell which of these fish were in most frequent use; bass seems to be the most mentioned by writers on tribes in the area. Josselyn lists the following as favorites of the Indians: striped bass, sturgeon, salmon, eels and lamphreys and frostfish. Since he does not tell the specific groups he was writing about and since his home was to the north of our area of concern, it is not certain that this list is representative of the preferences of Indians in the Plymouth area; Bennett, pp. 385-86. MOURT’S RELATION, pp. 196, 205; Williams, pp. 136-37, 142; Wood, pp. 100-102.

[63] Byers, p. 26.

[64] Bennett, pp. 385-86.

[65] “Of their fishing, in this trade they be very expert, being experienced in the knowledge of all baites, fitting sundry baites for the severall fishes, and diverse seasons; being not ignorant likewise of the removall of fishes, knowing when to fish in rivers, and when at rocks, when in Baies, and when at seas....”; Wood, p. 100.

[66] Champlain in Howe, pp. 110-115; Wood, pp. 100-101, 107.

[67] Champlain in Howe, pp. 110-115; Wood, p. 107.

[68] Wood, p. 107.

[69] Williams, p. 142; Wood, pp. 100-101.

[70] Wood, pp. 100-102.

[71] Williams, p. 137.

[72] MOURT’S RELATION, p. 205. One technique, found among the 19th century descendants of the Wampanoags, was: “Fish wiers were built in shallow water with nets having notched stone sinkers tied to them for anchorage.”; Speck and Dexter, p. 264.

[73] Williams, p. 137.

[74] Wood, pp. 100-101.

[75] MOURT’S RELATION, p. 196.

[76] Bradford, I, p. 162. There is no information as to the role of the dog in Wampanoag culture.

[77] Wood, p. 94.

[78] MOURT’S RELATION, p. 133; Willoughby, p. 296.

[79] Martin Pring’s Narrative in Howe, pp. 72-73.

[80] Ibid.; Willoughby, p. 296.

[81] Williams, p. 123; Wood, p. 106.

[82] Williams, p. 114.

[83] Ibid., p. 117.

[84] Willoughby, pp. 297-98.

[85] Wood, p. 106.

[86] Champlain in Howe, p. 130.