Be that as it may, what's done is done."(Brooks 9). He says this because even though they had all the paper work set out to take the sonquem's land legally, they did not understand the agreement. They did not car, all they wanted was land even though they knew the Indians did not understand the paperwork aspect of it, Bethia's grandfather took their land anyways. This was one of the first things that weakened the relationship between he Indians and the whites. During the summer a whale washes up onto the beach near the settlement. The settlers harvest the whale for the oil and its meats because their winter had been scarce and brutal. The only thing is that there was an agreement in place that says that any whales that are washed up on the beach belong to the Wampanoag. This betrayal of agreements once again hurts the relationship between the Indians and the whites. .
When the whites came over and settled the land, they didn't just bring themselves and all their physical possessions; they brought over disease and other deadly viruses. Specifically small pox, in chapter eleven Nahnoso becomes sick with this disease. Along with Nahnoso becoming sick his son also become sick with the same disease. When the settlers came over to the new land they brought this deadly disease with them, it shows how vulnerable the Indians are to the Europeans ways of living and what they are introduced too. Even though the Europeans don't know they are the source of the disease in the new land, they are still bringing it over and making it spread like wild fire. The Indians don't know what is causing the small pox, so they think its God. They believe that it is God trying to free the people that have been enslaved to paganism. They have no cure for the pox so they just let it go. Minister Mayfield says "If so many are dead there will be few to tend the living."(Brooks 77). This just shows that even without violence that the settlers continue to hurt the Indian population.