Native Presence in Nonotuck and Northampton

Steady pressure from English settlements reduced the traditional homelands of Native Americans and destroyed the populations of game and far-bearing animals. The defeat of Metacom in King Philip's War of 1675-1676 put an end to large-scale armed resistance to English settlement in Northampton, but not to Indian habitation. Though many Native peoples sought refuge elsewhere, some never left their homelands, choosing to make themselves less visible by moving beyond the fringes of colonial settlements. This strategy of avoidance helped ensure a continued Indian presence in the valley up until the present day, but that presence often went unrecorded and unnoticed by whites. Margaret Bruchac chronicles the struggles of Nono tuck peoples as they coped with social upheaval and environmental change while sustaining cultural identity and kinship ties.