Memory Lands

December 18, 2017
DeLucia, assistant professor of history at Mount Holyoke College, traces the enduring effects of colonial violence in her multifaceted and sometimes meandering study of how the 17th-century conflict known as King Philip’s War influenced centuries of New England life. Breaking with traditional chronological methods for representing the past, DeLucia takes a “place-based approach,” focusing on locations—ranging from Boston’s Deer Island to Bermuda—that encode memories about this devastating war between Native Americans and white colonists. Her account interweaves reflections on both historical colonial violence and how later communities have sought to memorialize, reframe, or obscure those events. Drawing on methodologies from multiple disciplines, including environmental and material culture studies, DeLucia reveals how fights to shape historical memory intersect with attempts to control indigenous lands. In the Kwinitekw (Connecticut River) Valley, for example, she traces understandings of place that emerge from a 17th-century battle, 19th-century white monument-making, early-20th-century antiquarianism, and some 20th- and 21st-century poetry, revealing a web of spatial and temporal relationships. The density and complexity of this history occasionally begs for a sharper organizing argument, but the stories DeLucia uncovers are sure to fascinate readers interested in the long reach of colonial memory and how the past is remembered. Maps & illus.