The Wampanoags in the seventeenth century

In Short

Written in 1965 as an educational resource for staff and visitors at Plimoth Plantation, Catherine Marten’s ethnohistorical survey reconstructs the life, culture, and society of the Wampanoag people during the seventeenth century. Synthesizing early colonial accounts, travel narratives, and archaeological evidence, the monograph details demographic shifts, hunting and agricultural practices, seasonal dwelling structures, trade networks, and social organization. It remains an enduring reference by assembling dispersed historical fragments into a clear overview of Wampanoag life around the time of European contact, offering balance to historical narratives that historically overlooked indigenous perspectives.

The Story

Marten’s monograph opens with a demographic assessment of southern New England prior to and immediately following European contact. It establishes that initial population estimates—often based on surface observations from coastal voyages—overstated inland density, failing to capture how populations concentrated along the coast for marine resources while utilizing interior lands seasonally. The text documents the devastating impact of the 1616–1617 epidemic, which severely reduced indigenous populations across eastern Massachusetts. While neighboring groups like the Narragansetts remained largely unaffected, the Wampanoags suffered substantial losses, reducing their numbers to just over a thousand by 1620 and leaving large tracts of land depopulated prior to the Pilgrims' arrival.

From demography, the narrative progresses into an examination of Wampanoag subsistence patterns, material culture, and everyday survival strategies. Marten outlines the seasonal rhythms that governed food acquisition: autumn deer hunting utilizing traplines, snares, and large-scale cooperative drives with brush fences, alongside seasonal fishing and horticulture. The survey describes dietary habits, noting that despite European contact, Wampanoag culinary practices remained largely unchanged until King Philip’s War. Marten details domestic architecture, contrasting the large, multi-family winter longhouses equipped with individual fireplaces and smoke holes against the smaller, round summer wigwams designed for flexibility near coastal fields.

The central chapters explore economic, technological, and social structures. The study traces the shift in body ornaments from early sheet copper and brass to shell beadwork, highlighting the introduction of wampum as currency by Dutch traders in 1627. Wampum quickly became central to exchange, diplomatic gifts, and personal adornment until the fur market collapsed in the late 1640s. Marten details a strict division of labor by gender: women managed agricultural production, house construction, and transportation of domestic mats, while men focused on hunting, fishing, and defense.

The final sections address governance, life cycles, and spiritual beliefs. Wampanoag political organization rested on localized sachemships where leaders allotted land rights in exchange for tribute and allegiance. Broader tribal unity under prominent leaders like Massasoit was dynamic and contingent on consensus rather than rigid institutional power. The survey concludes with an overview of child-rearing, passage rites, and burial customs—where grave goods and orientation toward the southwest reflected deep beliefs regarding the journey to the afterlife. An exhaustive appendix cataloging physical tools, containers, and weapons rounds out the study.

How It Unfolds

The coastal wilderness Early European explorers estimate regional populations from sea, observing dense settlements along rich shorelines while missing the sparsely settled interior forest tracts.

The shadow of pestilence A mysterious epidemic between 1616 and 1617 sweeps through eastern Massachusetts, decimating indigenous communities, leaving vast areas vacant, and fundamentally shifting the geopolitical balance among neighboring groups.

The seasonal harvest Communities alter their residences according to the season, building large multi-family longhouses for winter shelter and shifting to light, portable wigwams for summer farming and fishing.

The mechanics of the hunt Autumn hunting parties venture into designated territories, setting extensive traplines, constructing miles of brush fences for cooperative deer drives, and utilizing specialized water snares.

The arrival of wampum Dutch traders introduce wampum as formal currency in 1627, transforming local trade networks, diplomatic gift-giving, and traditional shell ornamentation until market shifts destabilize its value decades later.

The web of allegiance Sachems allocate land and receive annual tribute, maintaining regional leadership through persuasion and mutual agreement rather than absolute hereditary authority.

The final journey Community members prepare deceased relatives for burial with protective mats and essential grave goods to support their spiritual migration toward the idyllic southwest.

The People

• Massasoit: The prominent Wampanoag sachem who maintains regional leadership through diplomacy, alliance, and the allocation of land rights. He navigates complex relations with neighboring tribes and English settlers, securing tribute and loyalty across mainland sub-tribes while managing political dissent from rival leaders.
• Corbitant: A minor sachem who represents internal political tension within the Wampanoag nation. Opposed to Massasoit’s diplomatic ties with Plymouth Colony, he attempts to undermine centralized leadership, highlighting the fluid, consensus-based nature of native authority.
• William Bradford: A Plymouth Colony leader whose writings record early observations of Wampanoag technology, land use, and trade exchanges, including personal encounters with indigenous deer snares along forest paths.
• Wampanoag Women: The primary agrarian workers and house builders who construct domestic shelters, plant and harvest corn, manufacture storage containers, and transport family belongings during seasonal migrations.
• Wampanoag Hunters: The male members of the tribe responsible for wildlife tracking, tending extensive traplines every two days, driving game through constructed brush funnels, and securing animal hides and meat for winter survival.

In Its Own Voice

"William Bradford being in the rear, when he came looked also upon it, and as he went about it, it gave a sudden jerk up, and he was immediately caught by the leg."

• Early chroniclers describe the effectiveness of Wampanoag spring-traps encountered in the New England woods.

"... dishing it up in a rude manner, placing it on the verdant carpet of the earth which Nature spreads them, without either trenchers, napkins, or knives..."

• Colonial observers record their impressions of shared outdoor dining habits among native families.

"The woman of the family will commonly raise two or three heaps of twelve, fifteene, or twentie bushells a heap..."

• Historical sources document the substantial volume of corn cultivated annually by indigenous women.

What It's Really About

Marten's monograph examines how environmental adaptation and flexible governance sustained Wampanoag society prior to total colonial encirclement. At its core, the text demonstrates that indigenous culture was neither primitive nor static, but a highly organized system of seasonal resource management, precise technological craft, and negotiated political consensus.

The work addresses how external shocks—such as introduced European pathogens and new monetary economies like wampum—disrupted traditional demographic balances and land tenure. By analyzing historical records against ethnological frameworks, Marten exposes the gap between colonial observations and indigenous realities, showing how misunderstandings about land ownership and social roles shaped early American interactions.

Why Read It Today

This volume serves as a clear, unpretentious resource for readers seeking a grounded, historical baseline of indigenous life in New England before King Philip's War. Free of romanticization or modern narrative spin, it compiles essential primary source data into a coherent, highly readable survey.

Readers who appreciate factual precision will value its meticulous focus on everyday mechanics—from the exact dimensions of winter longhouses to the construction of birch bark pails and bone- hafted spoons. The text does not shy away from the limitations of its period sources, explicitly pointing out gaps where colonial writers misunderstood native governance or female labor roles.

While its concise format reflects its origin as an institutional background guide, the monograph provides an indispensable foundation for anyone studying colonial history, ethnohistory, or early American social dynamics.