The Praying Indians

The Praying Indians. Marlborough, Massachusetts. , The Praying Indian village of Okammakemesit, began by famed “missionary to the Indians” John Eliot, sat atop Prospect Hill. From 1654 to his death in 1674, Chief Onamog was the village leader. The Superintendent of Indian Affairs wrote of him, “He was a pious and discreet man, and the very soul of that place.” , He was a survivor of the Great Plague that wiped out many of his people before the Pilgrims landed in Plymouth. He was also among the earliest Indian converts to Christianity and a founding leader of the town of Natick. , In 1663, the English people of Marlborough located their Meeting House on Indian land. In exchange for deeding the land to them, Onamog asked only that they control their animals from ravaging the Indian planting field. , The English and Indians remained at peace until the outbreak of King Philip's War in 1675, a war led by Wampanoag Chief Metacomet whose English nickname was King Philip. , The war lasted fourteen months and marked the last major effort by the Native Americans of southern New England to drive out English settlers. A number of historical books place Marlborough at the epicenter of this great battle over native rights. , At Onamog's death, the tribe suffered a loss of leadership. His wife, Sarah Conomog, became the tribe's recognized leader. She remained the highest placed female leader in Marlborough history for over 325 years. Sadly, the plantation broke up in the hysteria that followed the onset of the war. , [Captions:] , Oil painting of John Eliot preaching to the Indians, artist unknown., Illustration of Onamog and Sarah Conomog., John Eliot's Indian Bible, translated into the Natives' language. This was the first bible published in North America in any language. It was printed in Cambridge, MA in 1663.