Penobscots don't want ancestors' scalping to be whitewashed

PORTLAND, Maine – Most Americans cognize astir atrocities endured by Native Americans aft the accomplishment of European settlers: wars, disease, stolen land. But they aren’t ever taught the grade of the indiscriminate killings.

Members of the Penobscot Nation successful Maine person produced an acquisition movie addressing however European settlers scalped — killed — Indigenous radical during the British assemblage era, spurred for decades by currency bounties and with the government’s blessing.

“It was genocide,” said Dawn Neptune Adams, 1 of the 3 Penobscot Nation members featured successful the film, called “Bounty.”

She said the constituent of the effort isn’t to marque immoderate Americans consciousness antiaircraft oregon blamed. The filmmakers accidental they simply privation to guarantee this past isn’t whitewashed by promoting a fuller knowing of the nation’s past.

At the bosom of the task is simply a chilling declaration by Spencer Phips, lieutenant politician of the Province of Massachusetts Bay.

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Issued successful November 1755, it gave “His Majesty’s Subjects” licence to termination Penobscots for “this full month.” The reward was astir $12,000 successful today’s dollars for the scalp of a man, and fractional that for a woman’s scalp. The magnitude was somewhat little for a child. Settlers who killed Indigenous radical were sometimes rewarded with land, successful summation to money, expanding settlers’ scope portion displacing tribes from their ancestral lands.

The declaration is acquainted to galore Penobscots due to the fact that a transcript of the papers was displayed astatine the tribal offices astatine Indian Island, Maine.

“If each American knew the full past of this country, adjacent the acheronian and uncomfortable parts, it would assistance america to get on amended and to recognize each different better,” said Maulian Dana, who co-directed the movie with Neptune Adams.

Both Europeans and Native Americans engaged successful scalping, but English colonists greatly expanded the signifier erstwhile the authorities sanctioned the effort with bounties, the filmmakers said.

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The archetypal known assemblage scalping bid is from 1675. That’s conscionable a fewer abbreviated decades aft the archetypal Thanksgiving successful 1621, erstwhile Pilgrims gathered with Wampanoag radical for a harvest celebration, said Chris Newell, who is Passamaquoddy and wrote “If You Lived During the Plimoth Thanksgiving.”

All told, determination were much than 70 bounty proclamations encouraging achromatic colonists to termination tribal members successful what’s present New England, and different 50 government-sanctioned proclamations elsewhere crossed the country, the filmmakers’ probe found. Colonial governments paid retired bounties for scalps of astatine slightest 375 Indigenous radical crossed New England betwixt 1675 to 1760, they said.

Emerson Baker, a Salem State University prof who specializes successful New England history, called the tribal acquisition effort “a almighty people correction.”

“Most radical recognize that Native Americans were present archetypal and that the colonists did their champion to region them from the land. They conscionable person nary thought of the extremes that it took,” Baker said. “Pretty overmuch immoderate Native American man, pistillate oregon kid was considered just crippled astatine times, and sometimes by the government.”

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Collaborating with the Massachusetts-based Upstander Project, the filmmakers released “Bounty” successful November during National Native American Heritage Month.

Neptune Adams and Dana, on with Tim Shay and their families, were filmed astatine the Old State House successful Boston. It’s the aforesaid determination wherever Lt. Gov. Phips’ scalping bid was signed.

In “Bounty,” the 3 participants picture having nightmares of Penobscots being chased done the woods, and sermon the dehumanization and massacre of their people.

“When you larn astir a people’s humanity, that affects however you dainty my kids, however you ballot connected nationalist policy, however you whitethorn presumption my people,” Dana said.

Accompanying the abbreviated video is simply a 200-page survey usher aimed astatine teachers. Several schoolhouse districts, including Portland Public Schools successful Maine’s largest city, are purchasing licenses for the video and program to usage the survey guides to assistance instruction.

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In Portland, the scalp bounties volition beryllium included arsenic 1 constituent successful a program that volition bring the schoolhouse territory into compliance with a 2001 instrumentality requiring students to beryllium taught Wabanaki Studies focusing connected Native Americans successful Maine, said Fiona Hopper, societal studies teacher person and Wabanaki studies coordinator.

“Students and teachers volition spot successful ‘Bounty’ the ongoing endurance and absorption of Penobscot Nation citizens,” Hopper said.

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