THE NATIVE LEADER WHOSE HEAD WAS DISPLAYED FOR DECADES

By the middle of the seventeenth century, the English colonies were no longer temporary settlements on the edge of Native political territory.

They were becoming permanent societies with governments, courts, farms, churches, roads, militias, and growing populations.

For Native leaders such as Metacom, the question was increasingly whether their communities would remain politically independent or become subordinate populations inside an expanding English world.

PART THREE — METACOM ENTERS THE STORY

Metacom was born into the Wampanoag leadership family during a period of profound change.

His father, Ousamequin, had managed to maintain a long relationship with the English.