While King Philip’s War is probably the best-known Indian war of colonial Massachusetts, there were a number of other Indian wars during the colonial period. One of these was the war against the Abenaki which started in 1722. This was not just an “Indian” War, more importantly it was a religious war: it was a war fought by the Protestant English colonists against the hated, “evil,” and “atheistic” Catholics.
The colonial Puritans were staunchly anti-Catholic and were particularly opposed to the activities of the Jesuit missionaries among the Indians. They were particularly upset that Father Sebastian Rasles (also spelled Rale), a French Jesuit priest, was strongly encouraging the Abenaki to defend both their lands and their culture against the English colonists. Thus, in 1722, Massachusetts governor Samuel Shuttle declared war on the Abenaki. This war is called Drummer’s War, Grey Lock’s War, Lovewell’s War, or Father Rasles’ War.
The Abenaki Confederacy
The Abenaki (also spelled also spelled Abnaki, and Wabenaki) – a corruption of the Innu (a neighboring tribe) word which refers to “the people of the dawn land” or “those living in the sunrise” – are a group of loosely related Algonquian-speaking people who have lived in the New England area for thousands of years. In his book Encyclopedia of Native American Tribes, Carl Waldman reports:
“The Abnakis were really a confederacy of many Algonquian tribes or bands.”
According to Rebecca Cole-Will, in an article in American Indian Art:
“Wabanaki is a collective term for the eastern Algonquian language communities of Abenaki, Maliseet, Mi’kmaq, Passamaquoddy and Penobscot.”
With regard to the Wabanaki Confederacy, Bruce Bourque, in his book Twelve Thousand Years: American Indians in Maine, writes:
“A salient feature of the confederacy was that it maintained regular diplomatic ties with a larger group whose central council fire was among the Mohawks at Caughnawaga.”
At the time of the first European contact, there were an estimated 30,000 Abenaki people living in northern New England and the Maritime Provinces.
As a confederacy, the Abenaki did not have a centralized government.In his chapter on political definitions in American Beginnings: Exploration, Culture, and Cartography in the Land of Norumbega, John Reid notes:
“The Wabanakis had leadership structures that were decentralized and based on persuasion rather than force.”
The War
The Abenakis had been friends with the French since Jean Vincent de l’Abadie, Baron de St. Castin had established a trading post near present day Castine, Maine, and had married the daughter of an Abenaki sachem (chief). They had allied themselves with the French in King William’s War (1689-1697) and Queen Anne’s War (1702-1713). From the perspective of the English colonists in New England, the Abenaki were considered enemies for two reasons: (1) they were friends with the French who were enemies of the British, and (2) they allowed Jesuits (Catholic missionaries) to live among them.
In 1722, Massachusetts forces (the New England Rangers) set out to find and kill the infamous Father Rasles, a Jesuit missionary. They attacked the village of Norridgewock, plundering the Catholic church and ransacking Father Rasles’ cabin. While the Jesuit priest eluded the English, the raiders claimed that they found letters in his strongbox which proved that he was an agent of the French government and was supplying arms and ammunition to the Indians.
In 1723, Grey Lock (also recorded as Gray Lock and Greylock), a Woronoco living in the village of Missisquoi, led some Abenaki raids against the English settlements in Northfield and Rutland, Massachusetts. Colonial cavalry and scouts were unable to find the raiders.
In response to Grey Lock’s raids, the English colonists in Massachusetts built Fort Drummer in 1724. In spite of the fort, Grey Lock struck again. The raid was successful even though the colonists had advance notice that the Indians were coming. Massachusetts sent out a force of Rangers to find Grey Lock, but he eluded them and continued raiding deep into Massachusetts.
As a result of his successful raids, Grey Lock was given the name Wawanolet (also spelled Wawanolewat and Wawanotewat) which means “he who fools others” or “he who puts someone off the track.”
The Massachusetts colonial army then attacked the Norridgewock (an Eastern Abenaki group). Father Rasles was killed, and his corpse was mutilated.
In 1724, an English force of 87 men under the leadership of John Lovewell attacked a small Indian camp, killing ten people. The English scalped the dead and then returned home to collect the bounties. At this time, the English colonies had bounties on Indians as well as wolves and other animals. This is the origin of the term redskin, meaning an Indian scalp used to claim a bounty.
Encouraged by his success and the easy money from the bounties, Lovewell immediately embarked on a summer campaign accompanied by forty-seven volunteers. This time, however, the English were ambushed by the Abenaki and Lovewell killed.
In retaliation for Grey Lock’s raids, Captain Benjamin, considered an “experienced’ Indian fighter, raised a force of 59 men and set out in 1725 to attack Grey Lock’s hometown of Missisquoi. The force returned after a month without encountering any Indians, only to find that Grey Lock had followed them. Grey Lock spent the summer raiding Massachusetts settlements.
Finally, in 1726, the Abenaki signed a peace treaty ending the war. Grey Lock returned to the village of Missisquoi, but never signed the treaty. Grey Lock died about 1750 at about 80 years of age.
More 18th-Century American Indian histories
Indians 101: The Pueblos, 1700 to 1725
Indians 201: The Iroquois Peace, 1700-1713
Indians 101: The eighteenth-century fur and hide trade
Indians 201: Ute Indians and the Spanish quest for silver in 1765
Indians 101: Indians and Europeans 300 years ago, 1722
Indians 101: The Cherokees 300 years ago, 1721
Indians 201: The Royal Proclamation of 1763
Indians 201: Moor's Indian Charity School
Note: Indians 201 is an expansion of an earlier essay
