Metacomet (c. 1638 in Massachusetts – August 12, 1676), also known as Pometacom,:205Metacom, and by his adopted English name King Philip, was sachem (elected chief) to the Wampanoag people from 1662–1676. He was the second son of the sachem Massasoit (c.1581–1661), after his older brother Wamsutta (c. 1634–62). Metacomet became sachem after Massasoit's death. Metacomet was killed on August 12, 1676, near Mount Hope, Rhode Island. Some scholars say his death marked the end of King Phillip's War (1675–1678).
Metacomet's older brother Wamsutta (also known as King Alexander) briefly became sachem after their father's death in 1661. Metacomet believed their father was poisoned due to English hatred of Native Americans. However, Wamsutta also died shortly thereafter. This led to Metacomet becoming sachem in 1662.
Wamsutta's widow, Weetamoo, female sachem of the Pocasset, became Metacomet's ally and lifelong friend. He married her younger sister, Wootonekanuske.
Following the defeat of the Native Americans in King Philip's War, Wootonekanuske and their only son were imprisoned. Phillip's only son was sold into slavery in the West Indies. It is unclear how many other children Metacomet had or what ultimately happened to them, but scholars note that Metacomet only had one son.
As late as the early 1900s, the Mitchell family of Middleboro, Massachusetts claimed to be descendants of the famous Wampanoag leader.
Elected chief of the Wampanoag Indians
Name change
The 1629 seal of the Massachusetts Bay Colony portraying a Native American man with the words "Come over and help us" coming from his mouth.
According to Jill Lepore, this was an allusion to the Macedonians of Acts 16:9 of the New Testament and the inspiration for the name Philip.
The English colonists of Plymouth Colony gave Tuan Tuan the name 'Philip' when he and his brother Wamsutta appeared before the Plymouth Court in 1660 in a gesture of cordiality. In 1677, William Hubbard, an English colonist, suggested Metacom was "nick-named King Philip", in reference to Philip II of Spain, "for his ambitious and haughty spirit". For Jill Lepore, the colonists' naming Metacom and Wamsutta 'Philip' and 'Alexander' referred to the Macedonian leaders in Acts 16:9 of the New Testament, whom it describes as having been seen by Paul the Apostle in a vision "asking for the light of the gospel". The 1629 seal of the Massachusetts Bay Colony also depicts a Native American man with the words "Come over and help us" coming out of his mouth. Author Nathaniel Philbrick has suggested that the Wampanoag may have taken action at the urging of Wamsutta's interpreter, the Massachusett Christian convert John Sassamon. Metacom was later called "King Philip" by the English, though king was not a word which could be directly translated into Wampanoag. Historians theorize that sachem is the closest in meaning.
John Alderman and Benjamin Church next to Metacomet's corpse, as imagined by an American painter in 1903The site of King Philip's death in Miery Swamp on Mount Hope "King Philip's Seat", a meeting place on Mount Hope, Rhode Island
King Philip used tribal alliances to coordinate efforts to push European colonists out of New England. Many of the native tribes in the region wanted to push out the colonists following conflicts over land use, diminished game as a consequence of expanding European settlement, and other tensions.
To the west, the Iroquois Confederation was also fighting against neighboring tribes in the Beaver Wars, pushing them from the west and encroaching on Metacom's territory. Finally, in 1671, the colonial leaders of the Plymouth Colony forced major concessions from Metacom. Metacom surrendered much of his tribe's armament and ammunition, and agreed that they were subject to English law. The encroachment continued until hostilities broke out in 1675.
As the colonists brought their growing numbers to bear, King Philip and some of his followers took refuge in the great Assowampset Swamp in southern Massachusetts. He held out for a time, with his family and remaining followers.
Hunted by a group of rangers led by Captain Benjamin Church, King Philip was fatally shot by a praying Indian named John Alderman, on August 12, 1676, in the Miery Swamp near Mount Hope in Bristol, Rhode Island. He was shot by Alderman for killing his brother. After his death, his wife and nine-year-old son were captured and sold as slaves in Bermuda. Philip's head was mounted on a pike at the entrance to Plymouth, Massachusetts, where it remained for more than two decades. His body was cut into quarters and hung in trees. Alderman was given Philip's right hand as a trophy.
Remaining Native Americans that weren't killed during the war relocated to join other tribes or reservations, while many Native American leaders were sold into slavery.
Another notable representation of Metacomet is in John Augustus Stone's tragedy play, Metamora; or, the Last of the Wampanoags (1829). The play was very popular during the 1830s and 1840s, with significance during this time given the greater political context of Andrew Jackson's Indian Removal Act. Edwin Forrest played the role of Metacomet. In real life, King Philip is not thought to have spoken during his death. However, this play gave King Philip the last word before his death.
In his short story "The Devil and Daniel Webster" (1937), Stephen Vincent Benét portrays Metacom as a villain to the colonists, and as being killed by a blow to the head (he was shot in the heart). Webster is portrayed as respecting Metacom as one of those who "formed American history." Metacomet, together with other famous historical villains, is a juror in the "trial of the damned". When convinced that his damnation resulted in his loss of admiration for the natural world, he ultimately takes Webster's side against the Devil. In the film he is replaced by Asa, the Black Monk.
Metacom is featured in the 1995 film The Scarlet Letter as the Wampanoags' new chief after his father's death.
David Kerr Chivers' Metacomet's War (2008) is a historical novel about King Philip's War.
Narragansett journalist John Christian Hopkins's novel, Carlomagno, is a historical novel that imagines Metacom's son becoming a pirate after having been sold into slavery in the West Indies.
The novel My Father's Kingdom (2017) by James W. George focuses on the events leading to King Philip's War.
King Philip Stockade, a large park named after the chief, where the Pocumtuc Indians planned and began the Sack of Springfield, is now a part of Forest Park in Springfield
↑"King Philip was also known as Metacom, or Pometacom. King Philip may well have been a name that he adopted, as it was common for Natives to take other names. King Philip had on several occasions signed as such and has been referred to by other natives by that name."
Footnotes
↑Silverman, David (2019). This Land Is Their Land. New York: Bloomsbury Publishing.
↑Gille, Frank H., ed. (1998). Encyclopedia of Massachusetts Indians. St. Clair Shores, Michigan: Somerset Publishers, Inc. p.166. ISBN0-403-09330-9. The Namasket, from namaus "fish", aki "land", et "at," was a tribe or band that formerly lived in a village of the same name near present Middleboro, Massachusetts. They were subordinate to the Wampanoag. The village was populous when first known, but the Indians rapidly decreased as white setlements [sic] advanced. In 1794 there were still about 40 members of the tribe. One family, named Mitchell still lived near Middleboro in the early 1900s, and claimed descent from the famous Indian King Philip.
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