Governmentality and the Subtle Quality of Colonial Violence in an Evolving New England Frontier

Summary

This paper presents a discussion of the often, subtle quality of the legal machinations employed by colonial authorities to dispossess the indigenous groups of New England of their land. Prior to the outbreak of King Philip’s War in 1675, New England’s colonies maintained a civil, but increasingly tense relationship with the indigenous groups of the region. As English population increased tensions grew over land and notions of private property. With the defeat of King Philip’s confederation, the Massachusetts General Court took a more aggressive stance in their dealings with Native peoples that employed legal instruments that led to the slow, but steady dispossession of indigenous lands. Using a combination of documentary and archaeological evidence this paper focuses on the experience of the Hassanamisco Nipmuc of Massachusetts and Connecticut in dealing with the subtle, but devastating use of governmentality to strip them of their lands and cultural heritage. 

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for Historical Archaeology 2017   •
• Advancing Frontiers in the 21st century: Reconsidering Colonial Encounters in the Atlantic World

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Contact(s): Society for Historical Archaeology

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PaperId(s): 197