350th Observance of the King Philip’s Wa

The East Providence Historical Society and the Weaver Public Library will commemorate the 350th anniversary of the King Philip’s War at the Library on Monday, May 19th with a panel presentation. Speakers will include Pokanoket Tribal Historian Don “Strong Turtle” Brown, Jr., Sachem Harry “Hawk” Edmonds, Sowams Heritage Area Project Coordinator Dr. David Weed, Newman Con-gregational Church pastor Rev. Samuel Lovett, and Chair of the Mayor’s Council on Indigenous Affairs Carole Brown with Library Director of Creative Learning, Ryan McAuley as moderator. The event will offer an opportunity for audience comments and questions.

The Pokanoket and Seaconke tribes have lived in what was then known as the Sowams area for more than eight thousand years, fishing for herring, shad, and eel and planting gardens along the 10 Mile River near Hunt’s Mills. Starting in 1643, waves of colonial settlers moved into this ances-tral homeland, disrupting the Native way of life. The peace compact struck in 1623 by the Massa-soit Ousamequin and the Pilgrims fell apart soon after his death in 1661, resulting in a rebellion led by Sachem Metacom (known as King Philip) that engulfed all of New England from June, 1675, to August, 1676. The English militia were ultimately victorious, and nearly all of the Native population was either killed, enslaved or driven from the area.

Retired Warren resident Dr. David Weed began to look into this history in 2017 when the Massa-soit was reburied in his former Royal Pokanoket Burial Ground at Burr’s Hill in Warren. By the next year, Weed had formed the Sowams Heritage Area Project (Sowams.org) to increase public awareness of the 17th century history of the Sowams area that includes Barrington, Bristol, East Providence, part of Providence and Warren, RI, as well as Rehoboth, Seekonk, Somerset and Swansea, MA. As part of that effort, the Newman Church held a service of inclusion with the Pokanoket Tribe and unveiled an historical marker on the Newman Cemetery grounds in October, 2022. Dr. Weed currently maintains an extensive website about this history at SowamsEarlyHis-tory.org and one about the King Philip’s War at KPW350.org

.The May 19th event at Weaver Library is free and open to the public