The Abenaki

The Effects of King Philip’s War on New England Native Americans

Abenaki Life Before Colonization

  • Descendants of the Paleo-Indians that arrived in the Champlain Valley over 11,000 years ago
  • Approximately 10,000 western Abenaki inhabited Vermont and New Hampshire at the time of the arrival of the pilgrims in 1620.

  • In the 1670s, 50 years of peace between the Plymouth colony and the Wampanoag Indians deteriorated
  • King Philip (Metacom) responded to the execution of 3 Wampanoag by ordering a raid on Swansee
Immediate Consequences of the War

  • An ecological disaster for the Abenaki
  • Increased anti-Indian sentiment
The “Great Dispersals”
  • The war led to social fragmentation and the relocation of New England native Americans
  • Many tribes began to live alongside other tribes