Complete readings in Mourt's Relation, parts IV and V.
We'll spend some time this period looking at similarities and differences in the contact with Native Americans as experienced by both Pilgrim and Puritan settlers. These are complicated and controversial stories, and our knowledge is filtered through a single point of view... that of the white population. Reminding ourselves that we may be misled by these one-sided interpretations, yet we can still learn something about the ways both the white and Native American population sought to exploit the contact with the other. I do not use exploit in a negative sense. I simply mean a conscious attempt to use something to one's own advantage. (As in exploiting Internet resources to do research.).
Make a list of the Indian tribes mentioned in Wood and in Mourt. Chapters 1-4 are most important as far as Wood is concerned (and for once, you'll need to pay some attention to the footnotes. Winkling the names out of Mourt will be a little more difficult. Don't mistake the names of the individuals for the names of the tribes. Chapter headings will be useful here.
I'd like to have each of you choose two tribes to investigate for Wednesday's class assignment. See bellow
To augment your understanding concerning Native American Tribes in New England, visit two useful resources... each of which contains links to historical and contemporary information about a number of the most important tribes in this area. Clicking on the links to the left will carry you to these. See what you can find about at least one of the tribes mentioned in Wood or Mourt.
Do note that both these sites are created by amateurs, and must be used with some caution. Use the site on Indian technology I introduced you to on the last syllabus., as well. I want each of you to post some interesting fact or discovery to your journal.
Relations between the English and Native Americans were frequently tense, and often marked by bluster, bluff, chicanery, and outright deceit. Phineas Pratt was in the thick of things from the first, and his narrative provides a good sense of this. It reads as if it would make a good screenplay. Perhaps it needs to be taken with a grain of salt, for reasons which the introduction on the website will make clear.
Plimoth has reorganized and revised its website: alas, not for the better. It used to be possible to visit each of the buildings in this recreation of the village online, but that is no longer possible. However, it is still worth spending some time browsing. Perhaps one of the more interesting parts of the website is an introduction to the philosophy of interpretation used at Plimoth. Read through it, including information about how the interpreters are trained. Note that there are summer employment possibilities there, if any of you are theatrically inclined.
Complete readings in Mourt's Relation, parts