Is King Philip’s War really part of the past? Four Indigenous speakers tell us that it’s still deeply present.

People who are not Indigenous often think of Metacom’s Resistance – more commonly known as King Philip’s War – if they know of it – as part of a distant past. If we have read children’s stories of an idealized colonial life, or educated with traditional textbooks, we might think of the war as a single violent chapter in an otherwise quaint, albeit colorful, history, with colonial heroes bravely conquering their enemies.

Historical markers dotting the New England countryside, especially in Massachusetts, reinforce this idea: it was brutal, but the colonists emerged victorious, and in any event it was long ago – nothing to do with life today.   For Indigenous communities, the past is not so easily left behind – and nor should it be for non-Indigenous people. We all live today with its aftermath. King Philip’s War continues to shape daily life, experience, and memory.

Panelists include:

• Hartman Deetz, Mashpee Wampanoag
• Brad Lopes, Aquinnah Wampanoag
• Brittney Walley, Hassanamisco Nipmuc
• Elizabeth Solomon, Massachusett at Ponkapoag, moderator

On the eve of the 250th anniversary of the American Revolution, this panel invites audiences to grapple with a foundational war of Indigenous resistance on its 350th anniversary – and to see that it is not past, but deeply present, for us all.