VOLUME 22/NUMBER 3/SUMMER 2024       (c) Connecticut Explored

photo: Mitchel Ray

By Mitchel Ray

In his memoir, A Brief History of the Pequot War: Especially of the Memorable Taking of Their Fort at Mistick in Connecticut in 1637 (reprint, S. Kneeland and T. Green, 1736), John Mason wrote, “Memorialize me not for my deeds as a soldier; remember me for my deeds as a statesman.” Considering his words in the context of the Pequot massacre, I believe he understood the terrible nature of his actions.

As a member of the Eastern Pequot Tribal Nation, I have researched the events that led up to the massacre at Mystic, as well as its aftermath, and one thought repeatedly arises in my mind: What if it had never happened? That is a fundamental question in the context of the war because the trajectory of European-Native relations drastically changed after May 1637.

Before 1637, one of America’s first economic booms occurred through the expansive trade of animal furs and wampum beads made from quahog shells. Historians have said that wampum was America’s first currency. Trading posts were erected along various rivers to help facilitate the trade between the Dutch, English, and Pequots. As Alfred A. Cave describes in The Pequot War, mutual respect for trade was established, but not for long. Kidnappings, raids, and murders on both sides eventually led to the massacre of 400–700 Pequots, mostly elders, women, and children. John Mason’s strategy became the blueprint for how to deal with other Native nations when tensions arose. If Mason had never set foot in the New World and was never called upon to intervene, could the different sides have settled their differences and lived side by side? Could they have established mutual respect for the land they each inhabited?

Land grabs of Native territories in Connecticut did not occur until after the massacre. This land acquisition had a trickle-down effect: the English became wealthy by controlling the wampum trade, trade routes along the rivers, and ports along the shores. This wealth was passed down through families, some of whom still live in Connecticut today. On the other hand, life for the Pequots was very challenging. Many were forced into slavery in the Caribbean or servitude in Connecticut homes. Colonists forced the Pequot people to live on small parcels of land known today as reservations. Children were removed from families, and our Algonquin language was never allowed to be spoken.

The actions of John Mason essentially determined the fate of European and Pequot relations. But the question remains: what would life be like today had all parties been able to resolve their differences with codes of conduct and mutual economic strategies to help everyone prosper? How would relationships have developed with other Native nations? That day in May 1637, the people who called upon John Mason missed a chance to steer humanity toward the greater good.

Mitchel Ray chairs the Eastern Pequot Tribal Council. He was formerly the president of the Wuttooantam Foundation, the Eastern Pequot Tribal Nation’s nonprofit organization dedicated to raising cultural and historical awareness through programs in the Native community.