An Amazing Introduction

And that is how I met Po Pummukoank Anogqs, also known as Tracey Brown, of the Pokanoket Nation. And daughter of Neimquag, also known as William Guy, the Sagamore of that nation. As if all that weren’t exciting enough, her family heritage traces directly back to Ousamequin, commonly known in the history books as Massasoit. That is his title, not his name. It was this great leader who called on the newly arrived English settlers as they were establishing their Plimoth Plantation on the site of the village left abandoned by the Great Dying only a couple of years earlier. Tracey and I talked. Twelve generations later – two descendants of two families that played key roles at the start of what has became the United States. We talked. Two women with overlapping family histories and a shared passion for working for justice and peace among people of different cultures.

Twelve Generations Later

Kathryn Haueisen

I am a twelve-generation descendant of William and Mary Brewster, two of those refugees. While I do not know how many generations are between Tracey’s family and Ousamequin, I suppose about twelve. Her ancestors and mine met four hundred years ago in modern Plymouth, Massachusetts. They and others from both cultures sat together one March afternoon to negotiate a treaty. They worked out an agreement that they would help one another, come to one another’s aid, and hand over for punishment anyone from either group that did wrong to the other group. Both communities honored that treaty for a generation.

But as more and more immigrants arrived things shifted for the worse. Newer arrivals did not honor the treaty or the Pokanoket people. Eventually the situation erupted in war. Tracey straightened out my understanding of some of the details of that horrific King Philip’s War. King Philip’s name was actually Metacomet, Ousamequin’s son, and also Tracey’s ancestor. The Pokanoket people were badly defeated and the survivors forbidden to use the name of their nation. Some reformed as the Wampanoag Nation. Others were hauled away as slaves.

The descendants of some now live in the same neighborhood as the friend I met while writing a story about both our family histories. Now, twelve generations later, we’ve met by phone. I am humbled and honored to now know about Tracey and her family.

A Belated Thank You and Apology

Dear Po Pummukoank Anogqs and all of your family,

First, I am grateful to you for the support and welcome you extended to my family when they arrived as half-starved and desperate refugees four hundred years ago. I am grateful that our ancestors saw the wisdom of finding ways to live near one another, respecting one another’s differences, learning one another’s ways, and even enjoying one another’s friendship.

But I am also deeply saddened to think that likely some of my ancestors fought against some of yours. That people of my heritage did not always see the value of mutual cooperation and community. That they did not appreciate the long and rich history of your people. That they did not appreciate the ways your people have cared for the earth and lived together in communities for thousands of years before our families met.

Having now met you, at least by phone, I am encouraged that perhaps our generation can make progress toward once again living together in peace and mutual respect. I pledge to you that I will do all that is within my power to set the record straight; to give your people the credit you well deserve for your part in my family’s and our nation’s history; to tell the story as fully and accurately and honestly as I am able.

Twelve generations later, on behalf of William and Mary Brewster and all those who traveled on the Mayflower with them, thank you. May there once again be a lasting peace between my family and yours. May that peace be contagious. May mutual respect spread until all our children, grandchildren, and their grandchildren are infected with a spirit of respect, honor, and appreciation for one another’s histories and communities.

And thank you Beth Splaine for this introduction.

If you enjoyed this blog, you might also enjoy this one: Massasoit Ousamequin

The post Twelve Generations After the Mayflower appeared first on How Wise Then.

They realized that if they didn’t leave they might be tortured and executed as traitors. Most had witnessed that happening to others. They left the country they loved to seek out a sanctuary city – a place where they could gather and worship in peace. They found it in Leiden, Holland when they emigrated there in 1608 as a congregation of around a hundred people. At first, they didn’t speak the language. Their work skills weren’t of much use in their new sanctuary city, so they took whatever menial job they could find. They brought with them only the most basic things – their clothes, a few household things, and a few reminders of a place they loved and would probably never see again. They were desperate refugees.

Foreigners and Strangers on Earth

A similar story is recorded in Hebrews 11:1-16 about a group of ancient people in the Middle East. The most relevant verses are verses 13 – 16, which I’ve edited some so as to apply it to the situation of the 17^th Century English refuges:

All these people were living by faith when they emigrated from the land they loved. At first, they did not receive the things promised; they only saw them and welcomed them from a distance, admitting that they were foreigners and strangers on earth. They were looking for a country of their own. If they had been thinking of the country they had left behind, they would have returned to it. Instead, they were longing for a better place—a place where they would be free. 

A Dangerous Voyage

The Separatist refugees stayed in their sanctuary city of Leiden until 1620. Then came an opportunity to establish their own sanctuary community in a new place – thousands of miles across the ocean. Today we call them Pilgrims and the place they settled Plymouth, MA.

After their perilous voyage on the small wooden Mayflower, they set to work setting up their new colony. First, they worked out the wording of the Mayflower Compact and had all the men in the group sign it. They knew they needed some form of governance and structure. Though the men sought to be free, they had not yet evolved in their understanding of freedom to include the women in the process. That would come later – much later and with great resistance.

Next, they built a Common House. Some lived there while they build the first seven homes; others remained on the ship. Though they had little food and many suffered great sickness; they persevered. Bit by bit they built their homes and prepared their gardens.

Meet the Neighbors

As the spring sun thawed the snow, they planted the seeds they brought or found stored by people who had previously lived where they were building their Plymouth Plantation.

Samoset, an Abenaki Native dignitary (Sagamore) approached them and greeted them in their own language: “Welcome! Welcome, Englishmen.” That was their first face-to-face encounter with someone who already lived where they’d come for safety and freedom. I’ll write more about Samoset in a future blog.

The people already established in this great continent started their first conversation with desperate asylum seekers by greeting them, in their own language, with a word of welcome.

“Welcome! Welcome, Englishmen.”

Not “Who are you?” Not “What are YOU doing in OUR land?” Not “Go back where you came from!” Not, “Show me your papers.”

None of that. Instead, the first words the new immigrants heard were, “Welcome!”

Finding Common Ground

On the surface it appeared these two groups had absolutely nothing in common. They spoke different languages, dressed very differently, and had different understandings about the Creator of this great continent. Their life styles were also very different. It seemed everything between them was different, different, different. And yet, a representative of the dominant culture greeted them with words of welcome, in their own language.

Shortly after that first encounter, they worked out a treaty, mostly out of mutual desperation around the circumstances in which each group found itself. The treaty served both cultures well – for a while. Unfortunately, that didn’t last long.

Within a generation the newcomers were slaughtering the old-timers. Within a few decades the new immigrants completely reshaped the landscape of what we know today as the USA. The hostility toward the first inhabitants of this land continues to the present moment and has now spilled over to others who come seeking help and hope in a new place. The hostility festers into angry backlashes against those who come seeking their own 21^st Century sanctuary from the troubles in their countries of origin.

Learning from the Past

How much better off we’d all be today if those us who are already here would assist modern immigrants, migrants, and asylum seekers the way Samoset greeted the strange looking English refugees he met 400 years ago. If only we could remember how our ancestors were welcomed and play that forward. Then we would truly be a great society. If only.

Before I could get this blog posted I learned that my denomination – the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America – recently voted to become a sanctuary denomination. I’m not yet sure exactly what that means, but I think it means we’ve decide to do what we can to welcome newcomers with the same kindness and hospitality the Natives showed the desperate Pilgrims once upon a time 400 years ago.

If you’re curious about what the ECLA recently voted to do you can read more about it at Sanctuary Churches.

Thank you for taking time to read about these 17th Century immigrants. I hope you found it interesting and inspiring. If you got this from a friend, you can have your very own subscription by signing up at up at HowWiseThen. I’m currently giving tips for recognizing and coping with dementia in memory and honor of my older brother who passed away recently after struggling with dementia issues for several years.

The post A Sanctuary City appeared first on How Wise Then.