Relations With The Natives
Mayhew and his fellow settlers found a large and economically stable native population of about 3,000 living in permanent villages, led by four sachems (chiefs). Relations between the first settlers and their Wampanoag neighbors were peaceful and courteous. Under the leadership of his son, a minister, they instituted a policy of respect and fair dealing with the Wampanoag natives that was unequaled anywhere. One of the first of Mayhew's orders was that no land was to be taken from the native islanders, the Wampanoags, without their consent or without fair payment. From this time forward, the colonial settlers and Indians lived without the bloodshed that marked the history of European colonies elsewhere in the New World.
From the beginning, Mayhew had worked to preserve the original political institutions of the Indians. Religion and government were distinct matters, he told the Indian chiefs. When one of your subjects becomes a Christian, he is still under your jurisdiction. Indian land was guarded against further encroachment by white settlers. So successful were these policies that during the bloody battles of King Philip's War, in 1675-1676, the Vineyard Indians never stirred, although they outnumbered the English on the island by twenty to one.
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