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STORIES ON THE LANDSCAPE

THREADS OF OUR HISTORY

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Sowams Heritage Area is a place where history and landscape are inseparable. Here, the interplay of land, water, and people has defined not only the culture of Sowams but the very fabric of our nation.

The pivotal events that happened on this landscape over centuries are the living, breathing narratives that continue to shape who we are today. As you explore these stories, you will uncover the lasting impact Sowams has had on the political, economic, and social heritage of the United States.

Explore the Five Key Themes (links below)

Time & Place Where Two Worlds Met

Time and Place Where Two Worlds Met

In 1621 in their homeland of Sowams, the Pokanoket people, whose ancestors had lived in the region for 12,000 years, and the English settlers arriving on the Mayflower forged a 50-year a non-aggression treaty. Each saw their mutual survival in that watershed alliance, but their divergent concepts of law, land ownership, and personal freedom were worlds apart and would change the course of history.

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Causes and Consequences of King Philip’s War

Causes and Consequences
of King Philip’s War

As the English colonists increasingly encroached on Indigenous lands, their alliance with the Pokanoket unraveled disastrously, erupting in the King Philip’s War, a devasting conflict that encompassed Indigenous and colonial communities throughout New England. After the war, the confiscation of Tribal lands, and the attempted cultural genocide, removal and enslavement of the Pokanoket and other Tribes, realigned the region based on race, setting a dangerous precedent for the subjugation of all Native Americans in the westward expansion across North America..

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Freedom of Conscience and the Birth of Rhode Island