Our Beloved Kin

November 27, 2017
In this dense and ambitious account of the 17th-century conflicts known as King Philip’s War, Brooks (The Common Pot), associate professor of English and American studies at Amherst College, recovers histories of Native American adaptation and resistance to settler colonialism. Tracking the figures of Weetamoo, a female Wampanoag chief, and James Printer, a Nipmuc scholar and printer, Brooks unveils new archival material as well as alternative histories embedded within well-known colonial documents—including Mary Rowlandson’s captivity narrative, in which both Weetamoo and Printer appear. Though historians have portrayed Native Americans as outside the world of print, Brooks close reads materials such as land deeds to show that indigenous people engaged in “strategic adaptations” to colonial culture, making canny use of written documents to protect ancestral lands and confront white settlers. Reading key texts through the lens of geography and tribal history, Brooks reframes King Philip’s War as a complex set of stories about indigenous persistence. With so much material to analyze, Brooks sometimes struggles to untangle narrative threads, and her use of historical fiction to represent indigenous voices tends to confuse rather than enrich her scenes. Nonetheless, Brooks’s project provides a wealth of information for both scholars and lay readers interested in Native American history. Maps. Agent: Geri Thoma, Writers House.

Starred review from December 1, 2017

Expanding on her scholarship in The Common Pot, Brooks (English & American studies, Amherst Coll.) recounts the events leading to the "First Indian War." Central to her account are Weetamoo, a female Wampanoag leader, and James Printer, a Nipmuc. Through their experiences and that of their relatives, the evolution of the colonial milieu that bred the conflict emerges. Brooks also documents the great depredations that were enacted by the colonists on Native peoples during the war, which were later ignored in historical accounts. Remembered was the captivity story of Mary Rowlandson, which was utilized to portray local Indians as violent savages who must be exterminated for civilization to emerge. The author challenges the historical record by utilizing Native sources, geography, and the reexamination of archival records held throughout New England. His narrative crafts how settler colonialism led to a significant conflict that lasted long after Wampanoag chief Metacom's murder, which historians have utilized to signal the end of King Philip's War. Renaming Metacom as King Philip allowed Anglo-American historians the ability to claim a definitive victory for New England's colonists while ignoring how badly they fared in later stages of the conflict. VERDICT This well-written and engrossing title is an essential read for anyone interested in U.S. history.--John R. Burch, Univ. of Tennessee at Martin

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