Talk:Pniese

April 2007
any further knowledge of 10 the role of Pniese; 2) if this was a concept of American Indians beyond New England; 3) or where the role played a part in early Euro - Indian affairs and history would be appreciated.

--Woodenbats 13:51, 14 April 2007 (UTC)

Further Info
If I recall from Philbrick's book, a pniese from the Massachusset tribe by the name of Wituwamat insulted and provoked Captain Standish as well as plotted to attack the Plymouth settlement. He had persuaded several other local sachem to join him in the "killing of all the Englishmen in one day." Captain Standish took premptive action against Wituwamat and his other pniese conspiritors. After Wituwamat had invited Standish to attack him whenever he was ready, Standish and his men killed Wituwamat, two other pniese (including Wituwamats brother), and several other warriors. Today this attack is called the Wessagussett Masacre. The local natives were absolutely terrified. Many sachem and their entire tribes took to hiding in the swamps for fear that Standish and his men were out to kill them. (This of course was not true, Standish's score was settled and the plot against the settlers was thwarted) Many natives stayed in the swamps hiding from Standish and his men that they neglected to plant sufficient crops for the harvest. A suprising number of natives died from disease and famine. Most of the influential sachem in the immediate region were dead in one year, creating a large power vacuum that the Pilgrims' ally, Massassoit (sachem of the Pokanokets) filled, thus forming the Wampanoag nation, the one that we are all familiar. A couple of rash actions from a few pniese had changed the political dynamics of New England forever. Just a little fun fact for the kids, but after Standish had killed Wituwamat, he cut off his head, brought it back to Plymouth and put it on a pike for all to see, where it remained for over a year.