GILL — Archeologists and other researchers are on a mission to map out the historical battle that one expert calls “the beginning of the end.”
About 80 people gathered on Thursday night to learn about an intensive study of the Battle of Great Falls, which is also called the Battle of Turners Falls or the Peskeompscut massacre.
Kevin McBride, director of the Mashantucket-Pequot Museum, who is leading the archeology portion of the project, presented information about the project, and more broadly, on King Philip’s War at Rhodes Hall at Northfield Mount Hermon.
He then joined a panel of scholars and Native Americans who offered additional insight into the project.
McBride discussed how the museum’s research team plans to use metal detectors and minimal amounts of digging to uncover objects from the battle and place it within the context of historical records.
He called the battle, which took place in the Riverside district of modern-day Gill, one of the most important battles of King Philip’s War.
“We consider this to be one of the most significant battles of the war because it was the beginning of the end,” he said.
The work is part of the battle study project, which is a comprehensive project to help gain a complete understanding of the Battle of Great Falls.
The event audience included homeowners in the Gill Riverside district, many of whom have given permission to the museum’s research team to look for artifacts in their yards.
The panel included Paul Robinson, a retired state of Rhode Island archaeologist; Elizabeth James-Perry and Jonathan Perry of the Wampanoag Tribe of the Gay Head/Aquinnah Tribal Historic Preservation Office; and David Tall Pine White of the Chaubunagungamaug Band of Nipmuc Indians Tribal Historic Preservation Office.
Robinson said the work can be difficult for Native Americans, given the gravity and sheer number of Native Americans who died because of colonization. He said that this is a chance to understand a different perspective.
“All of us have a remarkable opportunity to learn from Indian people through this project,” he said.
James-Perry, Perry and Tall Pine White will be on site with the museum team to help oversee the project and offer insights from the Native American perspective.
Tall Pine White said attitudes toward Native Americans have changed and that he was appreciative of the audience that night for showing interest in what Native Americans have to say.
“We’re coming together with respect and we’re starting to learn from each other,” he said.
McBride said the team surveys on Thursdays, and also wants to work on Saturdays to allow the community to get involved. After passionate remarks by the panel and an overview of the project, the speakers took questions from the audience.
“I think you’ve experienced a little of why we find this so interesting,” McBride said at the end of the event.
Those who want more information about the project can go to kpwar.org.
Reach Miranda Davis
at 413-772-0261, ext. 280
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