Wanting to animate the ground that had become cold over the centuries, Princess Red Wing initiated the Great Swamp Massacre Ceremony in the late 1930s. The ceremony starkly contrasted with the 1906 dedication of the monument to the Great Swamp Fight. The Narragansett consider the event a massacre, not a "fight," because of the death of many non-combatants (women and children) during the violence. In preparation for the first ceremony, Princess Red Wing spent countless hours organizing participants in order to begin a much needed healing process. The ceremony both reawakened the consciousness of tribal members to the terrible massacre during King Philip's War and forced White community members to acknowledge the transgressions against Native peoples in Rhode Island. The ceremony has grown over the years and continues today. It includes a lighting of fires to honor the past, present, and future, songs, ceremonies, dancing, a roll call of fallen soldiers in various wars, as well as speeches by Native and non-Native people.
Princess Red Wing was born Mary E. Congdon in 1896 to Walter Glasko (Narragansett) and Hannah Weeden (Wampanoag). Mary received her tribal name from her mother, after the red wing blackbird, "to fling her mission far with grace, for ears that harken for the uplift of my race." She certainly did uplift her Tribe and countless more Native groups throughout her life.
Princess Red Wing designed the Narragansett Indian Tribe's Seal and was asked to help draft the Tribe's bylaws in 1934 after the Indian Reorganization Act was passed. And as mentioned, she was no stranger to pageants, parades, and dedications. During her life, Princess Red Wing was invited to events all over the country. But, she refused to attend the Mount Rushmore dedication in 1941 because it desecrated a sacred place. Princess Red Wing was elected Squaw Sachem of the New England Council of Chiefs in 1945, which enabled her to oversee sacred ceremonies. Although "squaw" can be used in a derogatory sense, "squaw sachem" was a traditional Narragansett role. The term was reclaimed in the 20th century and used to empower Native women.
Princess Red Wing co-founded the Tomaquag Museum with friend and anthropologist, Eva Butler, in 1958. The museum's first home was Eva Butler's private residence, where it remained until Butler passed away in 1969. The Museum's second home was in Exeter, where Princess Red Wing moved the museum in 1972 so that she could share her tribal knowledge with the many patrons of the Dovecrest restaurant, living with the Dove family for years. She stepped down from her role at the Tomaquag Museum in 1984.
Nine years earlier, Princess Red Wing was given an honorary doctorate at the University of Rhode Island, an acknowledgment of her many achievements. In 1978, she was inducted into the Rhode Island Heritage Hall of Fame, which only includes a few Native American inductees: Canonicus, Miantonomi, Massasoit, Metacomet, and Ellison 'Tarzan' Brown. She died in 1987 at the age of 91 and is buried in Pascoag. Princess Red Wing was a tireless activist, passionate educator, celebrated artist, and gifted storyteller who made critical contributions to society on behalf of the Narragansett tribe and throughout broader Indian Country during a challenging time in Native history.
]]>Within a mile of this location, Metacomet, also called King Philip, and his men were ambushed by Captain Benjamin Church of the Plymouth Colony on August 12, 1676. Church had followed Metacomet to his long-time stronghold on Montaup (Mount Hope) after two years of heavy fighting between Colonial and Native forces dubbed "King Philip's War" (1675-1676). In the "Miery Swamp" near Mount Hope Bay, Metacomet was shot in the heart by John Alderman, a Native man fighting for Captain Church. Falling face down in a small stream, Metacomet took his last breath on lands that he knew well. Metacomet was then beheaded and quartered¬-a truly barbaric act. His body was strung in the trees so his remains would be scattered. From Mount Hope, Metacomet's head was sent to Plymouth, one hand was sent to Boston, and Alderman was given the other.
Metacomet was the younger son of the Wampanoag Massasoit (Great Sachem) Ousamequin. Metacomet was born before 1640 and had an elder brother, Wamsutta (Alexander) and at least three sisters. When their octogenarian father Massasoit died in 1661, his eldest son, Wamsutta became the Chief Sachem. Wamsutta and Metacomet married a pair of sisters, with Wamsutta marrying Weetamoo and Metacomet marrying her younger sister, Wootonekanuske--two daughters of the Pocasset Sachem Corbitant.
In 1662, Wamsutta was called to Plymouth to answer conspiracy charges. On his return home, he became ill and died shortly thereafter with rumors of a poisoning among many. Metacomet, the newly instated Sachem, grew to despise the English for the death of his brother and other cultural and political issues. When Swansea was settled in 1667, Metacomet fumed. Swansea was settled on land that the English did not own. Moreover, the settlement was just a stone's throw away from Montaup. When the English learned of Metacomet's anger, they forced him to surrender his firearms. The United Colonies denied his claims of appeal and imposed such a heavy fine that he was forced to sell the Wampanoag lands in Swansea. The final straw came in 1675 when three Wampanoag men were executed for murdering John Sassamon, a Christian or "praying Indian." Sassamon was an English informant who had recently warned Plymouth of a brewing Indian uprising.
By 1675, Metacomet had gathered Native allies across the region to fight English colonists. While much of the fighting occurred in Massachusetts, Rhode Island did not go unscathed. Metacomet's forces attacked Pawtuxet, Warwick, and Providence. Roger Williams' Providence home was destroyed in the early months of 1676. Local tribes, like the Narragansett, were immeasurably impacted by the conflict.
During the war, most "praying Indians" and other Native people were rounded up and sent to Deer Island in Boston Harbor. John Eliot and Daniel Gookin, a missionary and Major-General, were so disturbed by these events that they attempted to ferry supplies to Deer Island, for which they were both nearly hanged. In late 1676, Metacomet's wife Wootonekanuske and their nine-year-old son were captured by Captain Benjamin Church and sold into slavery in the West Indies, along with many other Native prisoners.
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