11. During King Philip's War, significant numbers of Native Americans sided with the English. How do you regard those who took up arms against their fellow natives? Do you see them as treacherous, opportunistic, or merely sensible? If you had been a native, which side would you have taken, and why?
The Indians that sided with the English were not treacherous, nor were they, at least as they were portrayed in this book, particularly opportunistic i.e., they were not out to further themselves. They were, I believe, merely sensible, and for some reason throughout the story, I regarded these Indians as generally more intelligent than the others, although that is really an ill-founded assumption. They picked a side, and they picked correctly, whether they were picking it because they became angry with their sachems and left, or because they believed the English would win and needed protection. As far as which side I would have taken, I think that I would have just stayed at home. Honestly. I'd want the Indians to have their land, and certainly what sympathies I had would have been with them, but I don't think anybody should hurt the innocent, which both sides did.
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