The Belt of Seven Totems

Massasoit Sachem, or Ousamequin (1581–1661), was the sachem or leader of the Wampanoag confederacy. “Massasoit” means “Great Sachem.”

This novel was not intended as a true recreation of Pilgram-era history; instead, it is the author’s attempt to reconcile apparently conflicting historical facts and to explain an otherwise inexplicable situation concerning Native Americans and European settlers. At the time of the Pilgrims, all Native Americans—not excepting those of New England—had suffered repeated outrage at the hands of white men, and in no case had they been given any cause to love the invaders of their country or to welcome their presence. Why, then, did the powerful Massasoit permit a white invasion of his territory that he could so easily have crushed?

Clearly a strong friendship existed from the very first between him and Edward Winslow, and Winslow seems to have exercised a great influence over the New England sachem. What was the origin of this friendship? The Narragansetts, while submitting to Massasoit’s authority, were always in sullen opposition to it. Why? It is to answer these questions that Kirk Monroe constructed this tale, and he advances a convincing theory through it.