Quote:
Originally Posted by wildwoodfam
Sorry to disagree - but I see this misconception quite often. The reference of "Indian Shutters" was not a term used until the early 19th century 1820's-30's. Quite a while after the discord between early settlers and natives resolved in this region of the country.
The pocket shutter - which dates back to use in early Great Britain and other European countries as far back as the 16th century - was brought to the New World by settlers who used them for the same reasons they had used them in Europe and Great Britain. Indian Shutters were not used to "protect" agains raid - rather they were and are used for the same purpose we use "Shades" today - privacy.
The fact is that neighbors, passers by, and yes, the locals, thought nothing of walking up to a family homestead and speaking or calling into windows at any given time, day or night. So pocket shutters were created to slide shut and lock, to prevent this disruption from occuring.
Don't believe me - show me an Indian Shutter with an arrow head cut or better yet, a tomohawk cut in it?? Ever see one of those? Neither have I, and I have seen hundreds of "Indian Shutters."
We have tons of these in our old homes in many New England towns, and on campuses at various boarding schools (including my old home on one of these campuses). We did a whole study and course on these historic homes.
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Sorry, my info came from the interpretations posted in the general store itself. If you go in there (upstairs, to their museum) and see the same interpretation is still there, you should see if they'll correct it.
The fact remains that rural New England in the 1600s and early 1700s wasn't a friendly place for white settlers. Indians saw the European settlements threatening their way of life, and like any self-respecting people, they didn't sit by passively and watch.
I was only using it to make a point that the break-ins on Bear Island aren't a sign that the world is worse than it ever was because "eras come and eras go, and each has its pros and cons."