During the 17th century, four European countries—France, England, Netherlands, and Spain–established permanent colonies in the Americas. As these colonies expanded, the conflicts with the Native Americans over land increased in frequency and intensity.
Concerning the reasons for the European invasion of North America, archaeologist Jerald Milanich, in his book Laboring in the Fields of the Lord: Spanish Missions and Southeastern Indians, writes:
“The driving force behind these initiatives was a desire for wealth: precious stones or metals, fertile lands suitable for productive plantations, human populations to be sold into slavery, and animals and plants that could be hunted or harvested and exported.”
While the American Indian nations had superior numbers, the Europeans had a technological advantage. Historians Robert Utley and Wilcomb Washburn, in their book Indian Wars, write:
“The disparity between the military strength of Europe, represented by gunpowder, steel, and the horse, and that of the New World, whose inhabitants fought with bows and arrows and wooden clubs, was immediately apparent to the European soldiery, who quickly saw the human population of the New World as a resource to be exploited.”
Briefly described below are some of the contacts between Indians and Europeans in 1621.
Indians first contact with the Pilgrims
The Pilgrims were startled by the appearance of Samoset, a leader of the Pemaquid, who spoke English which he had learned from the ships which had been trading along the coast of Maine. He later returned with Tisquantum (called Squanto by the English), a Patuxet. The Patuxet had once occupied the lands which the Pilgrims now claimed, but after contact with the English Captain Thomas Hunt, they had contracted an epidemic which had annihilated the nation. Tisquantum had been captured by the English for the Spanish slave market, but after a number of adventures in Europe had managed to return. For the Pilgrims, Tisquantum’s story meant that they could freely claim the land.
The Pilgrims were totally unprepared for life in the Americas. They attempted to build English-style houses of wattle and daub, but the houses proved to be too cold to live in. Tisquantum and the other Indians showed them how to make wigwams, to plant corn, and to build traps in the stream to catch fish. Without this help they would have perished.
Tisquantum also established important trade contacts between the Pilgrims and the Indian villages which allowed them to obtain animal pelts which they used to reimburse their London benefactor and to pay for the transportation of essential goods to the colony. Historian John Humins, in an article in the New England Quarterly, reports:
“As middleman in these local trade transactions, and as a guide and interpreter, Squanto had made himself indispensable to the Pilgrims.”
In the fall, the Pilgrims held a modest feast which would later become known as the First Thanksgiving. Archaeologist Robert Grumet, in his book Historic Contact: Indian People and Colonists in Today’s Northeastern United States in the Sixteenth Through Eighteenth Centuries, writes:
“This feast helped cement relations between the Wampanoags and Plymouth colonists at a time when both people needed each other.”
Indian diplomacy with the Pilgrims
Massasoit, leader of the Wampanoag, established formal diplomatic relations with the Pilgrims and both sides pledged mutual support and protection. Historian John Humins writes:
“This treaty was a bold move by the Wampanoag sagamore, who, as a result, bolstered his economic, military, and political control. He may well have assumed that the pact made the newcomers members of his confederation.”
In his book Brave are My People: Indian Heroes Not Forgotten, writer Frank Waters describes Massasoit:
“He wore a deerskin robe and a great chain of white beads to which were fastened a long knife and a leather tobacco pouch.”
As a sign of good faith, Massasoit assigned Squanto to live with the colonists and to serve as a liaison between the two groups.
Conflict
In Massachusetts, a rumor that Massasoit, the Wampanoag sachem, had been captured by the Pocasset sachem Corbitant reached Squanto, Hobamok, and Tokamahomon who were living with the Pilgrims. The three went the Corbitant’s village where they found that the rumor was not true, but Corbitant took them captive. Hobamok managed to escape and told the English who then attacked the village, wounding several Indians and freeing Squanto and Tokamahomon. Massasoit then negotiated a peace between the English and the Pocasset.
Woman Leader
In Massachusetts, Massachusett sachem Nanepashemet was killed in an attack by the Abenaki. His widow, later known to the English as the Squaw Sachem, assumed leadership.
Genocide Urged
In the English Virginia colony, the Reverend Jonas Stockam preached that the only way of bringing the gospel to the Indians was to kill the elders:
“till their Priests and Ancients have their throats cut, there is no hope of bringing them to conversion.”
A China Box
In Virginia, a group of English explorers including Marmaduke Parkinson and Edward Waterhouse set out from Jamestown and traveled north to the Potomac River. In a chief’s house, Waterhouse noticed a China box and asked about it. He was told that it had been sent to him by a great King who lived in the west, some ten days travel away. In his book Roanoke: Solving the Mystery of the Lost Colony, Lee Miller writes:
“The China box is perhaps our final image of the Lost Colonists, more poignant than any words. A delicate enameled keepsake, a personal luxury, brought from England by one of eleven women who sailed with White to find a new home.”
Horses
In New Mexico, the Spanish governor gave permission for the Spanish ranchers to employ Pueblo men on horseback. Some of the Pueblo horsemen, however, escaped with their horses. As a result, the Apache and the Navajo acquired horses. They then used the horses in their raids against the Pueblos and the Spanish settlements.
Catholic Mission
In New Mexico, the Spanish established a mission at Picuris Pueblo.
Dutch West India Corporation
The Dutch West India Company was formed to exploit the resources of the Americas and to establish a colony among the intelligent natives. With regard to the powers of the new company, historian Matthew Dennis, in his book Cultivating a Landscape of Peace: Iroquois-European Encounters in Seventeenth-Century America, reports:
“…it commanded the authority to maintain naval and military forces, to make war and peace with indigenous powers, to colonize and settle the lands it acquired, and to exercise judicial and administrative functions.”
Indians 101
Twice each week this series presents American Indian topics. More about the seventeenth century from this series:
Indians 201: Massachusetts Prior to 1620
Indians 101: American Indians 400 years ago, 1620
Indians 101: The Pueblo Revolt of 1680
Indians 101: 400 years ago, 1619
Indians 101: New Amsterdam and the Indians
Indians 101: Four Centuries Ago (1618)
Indians 101: New Sweden and the Indians
Indians 101: The 17th Century Wampanoag
