I would like to add a few clarifying comments to the article by Max Marcus [“Great Falls? Turners Falls village name under fire”] concerning the dueling petitions about the current name of the village of Turners Falls.
While I do appreciate the effort by the reporter to delve into the current politics and protocols of the two petitions and the possibility of name change for the village, I do think that there were major inaccuracies and a lost opportunity to educate Recorder readers about the Native American victims of the Turner massacre and subsequent successful counter-attack by Native soldiers.
The reporter’s focus on the Nipmuc victims told only a small part of the disaster inflicted upon the Native refugees seeking shelter at the falls. In fact, by far, the greatest tragedy was inflicted upon the Pocumtuck Nation, whose principal population centers were at what is now known as Deerfield and Wissatinnewag, also known as Canada Hill. In addition, their extended homelands stretched from the falls as far south as Agawam. The Pocumtuck had been stewards of the falls and surrounding region, and had welcomed Indigenous visitors to this site for more than 10,000 years.
As a result of Turner’s surprise attack on the non-combatant refugee camp, the Pocumtuck presence in our Valley was essentially erased, with the survivors fleeing the Valley to seek refuge among the Mohicans of the Berkshires, the Abenaki of what is now known as Vermont, New Hampshire, and the lands of the St. Lawrence River valley.
We agree that the Nipmuc were among the victims. But it should not be neglected that of the several hundred killed that day, there were also many dead who were Abenaki, Wampanoag, Pennecook, Narragansett and other tribal individuals whose kinship networks brought them to the falls either as refugees or armed defenders.
It is important to note that there has been an on-going study of the events of that day of May 19, 1676 for the past six years right here in what is known for now , as Turners Falls.
Historic commissioners of Greenfield, Montague, Deerfield, Gill, Northfield and their counterparts from the Tribal Historic Preservation Offices of the Elnu Abenaki, Nipmuc/k, Narragansett and Wampanoag have met monthly to discuss, debate, and oversee the work of the archaeological research team hired by the Town of Montague to investigate the King Philip’s War and the events that later gave the village its name.
By the way, the village known as Turners Falls was given its name belatedly in 1823 rather gratuitously and unilaterally by Edward Hitchcock who was then the state geologist.
Although the Marcus article was breaking news about the dueling petitions, a bit more time spent checking the facts of the Turners massacre and the subsequent rout of the English attackers by the Native soldiers would have provided a golden opportunity for our residents to learn more about the true nature of the events, participants, and victims that day.
We hope that the Recorder will devote more coverage to the on-going study of the tragedy at the falls, taking time to check with the numerous local historians, archaeologists, and Native informants who gather at the Montague Town Hall every first Wednesday of the month.
David Brule, a resident of Erving, is the project coordinator for the National Park Service study of the battle at Peskeompskut and chairman of the Nolumbeka Project, Inc.