The people of Shashanak of the Nipmuc Confederation of the Algonquin Nation lived today’s Massachusetts for thousands of years, and then, in the space of just 100 years, they were gone. Where did they go? These two videos created in 2010 explore the question of what happened to them and other Native Americans who were here before the United States was even a country. Click here for a 30-minute video of Part I and here for a 30-minute video of Part II, posted on July 3, 2026 by Beloved Christmas.

(Above) Michael Tredeau, former chair of the Burlington Historical Commission, narrates two videos that tell the story of King Philip’s War from the perspective of the Nipmuc Nation where Burlington, MA is located. He uses a number of published accounts, including Flintlock and Tomahawk by Douglas Edward Leach, to tell the story.

In Part I, Tredeau starts with his boyhood recollections of Burlington, MA and goes on to recount the history of the War that broke out in Swansea and devastated over 25 communities through Central and Western, Massachusetts, as well as settlements in the Connecticut River Valley in that state.

In Part II, he relates that Increase Mather was speaking for the colonists, but we can well imagine he also summed up the feelings of the Native Americans, when he said we should not be surprised that the colonists who often suffered all-out assaults had developed not only a fear of the Indians but a hatred as well. (Above, right) King Philip’s War Club has been on display at the Fruitlands Museum in Harvard, MA.