Abstract

The New England colonies are consistently perceived in American national consciousness and historical memory as the birthplace of the statehood and culture of the future United States. Coexistence with Indians has been an important component of life for English colonists since the foundation of settlements in New England. The cultures of the peoples of New England gradually integrated and one of them took a dominant position. G.V. Alexandrov’s monograph “Saints” and “Savages”: The Relationship between Colonists and the Indigenous Population of New England in the Seventeenth Century significantly contributes to understanding the nature and dynamics of ethno-cultural processes and interactions in the early history of the New England region. The novelty of contemporary research approaches implies the study of cooperation rather than conflict, the mutual economic, political and cultural influence of colonists and Indians on each other. Coexistence between Europeans and Indians during this period seems to have been much closer than our sources’ authors were willing to admit. During this time the Indians developed several mechanisms in an attempt to integrate themselves into the colonial community and to maintain at least part of their territorial, political and cultural independence from the British. In the early colonial decades, relations of the colonies with the Indians were almost equal. The causes and background of the two main colonial wars fought by English colonists with the New England Indians in the 17th century — the Pequot War and King Philip’s War — are presented in an entirely new light. The motives of the participants in the Pequot War were quite complex, involving political, economic and cultural aspects. Above all, contradictions between different Indian tribes and groups played a significant role in the development of the conflict, and the positions of many Indian groups might temporarily overlap with those of Europeans. King Philip’s war of 1675–1676, although anti-colonial in nature, stemmed more from the conflict between Indian tribes and changes in the regional economic system.