Native American Culture and Language
Arguably one of the most fascinating pieces of the book is the second half. This entire section focuses on the culture and language of New England Native Americans. Wood gives insight into governmental structure, marriage practices, dietary habits, and many other facets of Native American society. However, while he spends the first chapter of the second section analyzing the differences between the tribes, he does not specify which group he is discussing as he goes forward. Page 89 (Fig. A) includes the beginning of the section on the governmental structure utilized by the native peoples. Wood describes the Native American power structure in a similar light to the English monarchy. However, he seems to be in shock that the king does not dress in bright colors, and that there is no large retainer that escorts the sovereign. Similarly, he states that the kings have no laws or taxes with which to control the people. Throughout this description, Wood seems relatively nonjudgmental. The chapter instead serves to educate the reader as to how the Native American power structure operates, and does so by relating it to the English monarchy.
Towards the end of the book, Wood presents a number of translations from a Native American language to English (Fig. B). There are quite a few pages dedicated to this and many different phrases are explored. For example, one might learn how to say, “to kill” or “I drink to you.” There is an interesting group of words that are offered in this chapter. There are far less that involve violence and self defense and the focus seems to be more on conversation and friendly interaction. The words given seem to be a genuine attempt at giving the reader the ability to communicate with indigenous peoples throughout New England. In many ways, this section is highly reminiscent of a modern day travel guide, as it assumes that the reader will want or need to interact with local peoples. However, Wood again seems to conflate all northeastern Native American languages into one and creates no distinction between the tribes.