The Susquehannocks were a Native American tribe who were given a very bad reputation by European settlers.
Depicted as brutal cannibals, the Susequehannocks were accused of the massacre of their neighbors, the Shenks Ferry people.
April Beisaw, an anthropologist at Vassar College, thought the tribe might have had an unfair reputation for the last few hundred years, so she decided to check if any massacre actually happened.
With the help of two undergraduates, she set out to examine as much evidence as was available.
After studying over 2,000 artifacts from the area and records at several museums, she discovered no evidence that violence of any kind occurred between the two tribes.
The legend probably served as useful ammunition for settlers who actually did slaughter members of the Susquehannock tribe.
She hopes her work will help “rewrite history” for the natives.
Depicted as brutal cannibals, the Susequehannocks were accused of the massacre of their neighbors, the Shenks Ferry people.
April Beisaw, an anthropologist at Vassar College, thought the tribe might have had an unfair reputation for the last few hundred years, so she decided to check if any massacre actually happened.
With the help of two undergraduates, she set out to examine as much evidence as was available.
After studying over 2,000 artifacts from the area and records at several museums, she discovered no evidence that violence of any kind occurred between the two tribes.
The legend probably served as useful ammunition for settlers who actually did slaughter members of the Susquehannock tribe.
She hopes her work will help “rewrite history” for the natives.
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