On the Representation of the Indians of New England in Narrative and Official Sources of the 17th century
The native peoples of New England had a significant and varied influence on the development of the English colonies in the region, as allies, trade partners, occasional adversaries, converts, and in a variety of other roles crucially important to the economic, political, and cultural history of the colonies. This influence is, however, often underestimated, at least in part due to the authors of the 17th- 18th century, from William Bradford to Cotton Mather, paying comparatively little attention to the native-colonial relations in their writings. As a result, the popular image of colonial New England, which persisted for a long time in scholarly writing and still persists in popular imagination today, was significantly distorted. The native people of the «wilderness», if present in this image at all, are pushed out into the wilderness surrounding the colonies, and any contact with them seems sporadic at best. This contradicts, however, the evidence provided by legal and other official documents produced in the colonies, such as town and colony records, which seem to indicate that native-colonial interactions were very much part of the daily life for most of the colonists. The author presents a comparison of native representation in narratives and in official sources, explores the reasons for the significant discrepancy between them and its implications for the development of the popular image of colonial New England, which played an important role in shaping American culture and identity.