Wheaton College Professor of Anthropology, Emerita, Donna Kerner presented a summary of Jill Lepore’s book, The Name of War: King Philip’s War and the Origins of American Identity, at the final meeting of a Lifelong Learning Collaborative course held on August 16, 2024 at the Barrington Congregational Church. Click here for a 45-minute video of her presentation.

Starting with Lepore’s conclusions about the war, Kerner went on to talk about how King Philip’s War was described almost entirely without graphic images but in a variety of literary publications.

Kerner talks about how the very word “War” conveys a certain meaning that other words like “conflict” or “rebellion” would not.

She then describes how the differences between Indigenous and English cultures were highlighted in the descriptions of the War that were offered by various writers.

Kerner ends her summary by describing how descriptions of the War in the 19th and 20th centuries offered different meanings through dramatic portrayals, such as Metomora, that described the main character as a tragic, noble Indian hero turned violent only by force.