Metacom’s older brother Wamsutta succeeded their father and became sachem, but Wamsutta’s death soon placed Metacom in the position of leadership.

English sources often reduced Metacom to the name King Philip.

The name itself reflected the colonial tendency to place Native leaders into European categories and titles.

For his own people, however, he was Metacom, a Wampanoag sachem whose authority was rooted in Wampanoag political traditions.

He inherited a difficult situation.

The old alliance with Plymouth still existed in memory, but the political conditions that had made it possible were changing rapidly.

Colonial demands increased.