Opinion: 1755 proclamation called for scalping of Penobcots

Monday, November 14, 2011  

"Four of my grandchildren have Loring and Francis and Mitchell ancestry from Indian Island, so I have quite enjoyed exploring their Penobscot roots. The inclusion of their Frank “Chief Big Thunder” Loring, a Penobscot guide and showman, in the current exhibit at the Abbe Museum in Bar Harbor drew me and my husband to Mount Desert Island for a recent visit.

It’s a wonderful exhibit curated by Harald Prins and Bunny McBride, authors of “Indians in Eden.” It is open Thursday through Saturday the rest of this year, and will be up in 2012, as well. I enjoyed picking up the handset to listen to former tribal Representative Donna Loring talk about Frank Loring, her great-grandfather, and what he means to her.

Afterward, perusing a display out in the hall, I found my “warm fuzzy” wilting. The cause was a copy of a 1755 proclamation by one Spencer Phips, then lieutenant governor of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.

The document declared the Penobscots “Enemies, Rebels, and Traitors to his Majesty King George the Second.” It “required” his Majesty’s Subjects “to embrace all opportunities of pursuing, captivating, killing and Destroying all and every of the aforesaid Indians.” It further stated that a bounty had been voted by the General Court of the Province, promising 25 pounds for a female Penobscot of any age or a male Penobscot under age 12, and 50 pounds for a Penobscot male over age 12. Scalps of Penobscots under 12 would earn a little less, 20 pounds."

Get the Story:
Official issued proclamation against Penobscot Indians in 1755 (The Bangor Daily News 11/14)