From the Diary of Chief Wampanoag
They brought to us today, the one they call “Mary.” I know taking her was the quickest way to prove to the white man that we will fight back if necessary, but my heart has pain when I see we also took her children. As Chief my warriors must follow, if they see weakness they may rebel, bringing more harm to our tribe. I will keep these thoughts private, praying this lesson too will be taught someday.
The lesson is this: a skilled hunter can kill two birds with one stone of he trusts the spirits to guide him. Our tribe does this with Mary. We took her as a show of force. We also took her so she could take back to her people the experience of tribe-life.
In my many years I see people fear what they do not know or what is different from them. The white man calls us “savages.” This I do not understand after so many years of peace. We are peaceful tribe and this land is a size large enough not to confine any group. The original Pilgrims trusted their spirits; we shared growing, crafts and culture. We learned from each other. We lived with respect. This is peace. We do not have this now. More blood will shed before this is over because while my warriors are fearless they cannot survive the wounds by “the gun.” I fear for our future.
I will trust the women to calm Mary and her babies. When this is done they will spend time with her, making her useful. She will prepare headdress, she will sift shaft, she will prepare skins. She will learn our language. To do this will be difficult. Some warriors say the reason the white man treats us with cruelty is because we taught them too much. We should have let them die, they say. But, this is not in our nature; the spirits forbid it for if we harm another for no purpose the spirits return the cruelty four-fold. We will teach Mary. Good will come from her capture even though it may not be seen right away.
