A Child's Role

Wampanoag : English Colonists

A Wampanoag Child's Role

The Future Generation: Wampanoag Children
Children are the most Sacred treasure to our People. They are the footsteps to the future of the Wampanoag People. When children are born into this world, there is a ceremony of welcoming and honoring for their health. Gifts are given and we thank the Creator for the beautiful gift of life.

This is how it is today among the Wampanoag and how it was back in the 1600s as well.

As our children grew, the young boys learned how to fish, hunt, gather and work on small crafts. They also learned about the animals, the plant life, and that all Life is Sacred. They would learn from their parents and listen to the sacred stories from the Elders. For example, they learned respect for a rock, the water or the birds. They learned respect for each other. Young girls would learn how to collect shellfish, plant the crops, tan the animal hides, and make clothing. They also learned respect for all life. Both girls and boys learned the principals of working together as a People.

Children in the 1600s were guided and instructed in how to behave, by example as well as words. If a child misbehaved they would be reminded of it and possibly made to feel badly that they had offended someone.

An English Child's Role

In the 17th century, like today, children played an important role within the family. In fact, of the 102 passengers that Mayflower brought to New England in 1620, 32 of them were children. But the lives of those children, though surprisingly similar to the lives of children today, were also very different.

The English colonists (many people call them “Pilgrims” today) lived during a time when people thought differently about children than we think today. For example, today's parents allow their children to make choices about things they'd like to do during their childhood, like choosing to play a musical instrument or deciding where to go during summer vacation. But, back in the 17th century, parents made all the decisions about a child's life.

In the 17th century, parents believed that children should be taught the skills they would need to survive as an adult. In Plymouth Colony, this meant that a large part of a child's day was filled with work. Children as young as five ran errands, fetched wood and water, or even herded chickens! But, as children got older, their work became even more important to the family.

Older boys would help their fathers prepare the fields for planting, then sow the seeds, weed, and harvest. Boys also learned how to tend livestock, hunt, fish, and do the woodworking that was needed. They were also trained to fill the role of head of household, which, as they got older and married, they would soon occupy. Older girls worked very closely with their mothers to be trained to run a household. This would include gardening, cooking and preserving food, tending to the younger children, and the sewing and mending of clothing and bedding.

Though the children of Plymouth Colony were often busy working, their parents sometimes allowed them to play games. Paintings from the 17th century show children playing games that are still recognizable today, such as leapfrog, marbles, and ball and cup. There were board games, like Nine Men's Morris, and Naughts and Crosses (tic tac toe), and cloth dolls called poppets. Older children would also exchange riddles or jests (jokes) with each other.

Even though there wasn't a formal school in Plymouth Colony during the early years, many parents taught their children reading and writing at home. This usually occurred in the evenings or in the winter when there wasn't much work to be done. Many of the parents were very religious and used the bible to teach their children how to read. If they had one, parents could give their child a hornbook, which was a wooden paddle with pages of paper attached to it. On the pages were printed things like the alphabet, a list of diphthongs (when two vowels are combined to make one sound), and the Lord's Prayer. The pages were protected by a see-through cover made from cow horn.

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