By "Indians", he is referring to a confederation of Algonquin tribes, the Wabanaki Confederacy (consisting of the Abenaki, Maliseet, Passamaquoddy, Mi'kmaq, and Penobscot) which, prior to the arrival of Europeans, had often banded together against the Iroquois. Many of these tribes had already been decimated by diseases brought by European mariners, and by this point were also banded together in an effort to survive. They had been pushed to the breaking point by, among other things, an order issued by Governor John Leverett of Massachusetts: tribes along the frontier of Massachusetts were to be forcibly disarmed. This was essentially a death sentence - how could they hunt for food without arms? - and the tribes reacted angrily. In fairness, the colonists who had lived side-by side with the Wabanaki Confederacy also argued with the Massachusetts Governor on their behalf:

"Sir, these Indians amongst us, live amongst us by hunting as your honor well know it. I do not see how we can take away their arms whose livelihood that depends upon it they may be forced to go to the French for relief, or to fight against us." Commander Thomas Gardiner, Pemaquid, to Governor John Leverett of Massachusetts

Governor Leverett did not rescind his order, and it was Madockawando, a Penobscot, who chose to fight, rather than ask the French for aid and it was he who led the war party from the Wabanaki Confederacy into battle against the garrison settlement at York. The colonists viewed it as a massacre. The Wabanaki viewed it as a raid to regain their own confiscated arms and supplies. Of Madockawando, Bruce Bourque, Maine State Museum Chief Archaeologist, says,

"Madockawando should have the status of all the usually important native Chiefs and warriors in North America. But because consciousness of the frontier only rose in the American psyche after American colonists began to spill over the Alleghenies all of the conflicts east of the Alleghenies kind of got rolled up into this folklore Indian Wars category. And the remarkable individuals who played roles in that are sort of forgotten to history. Madockawando's clearly one of them."

The tragedy of this incident is that, to some degree, the residents of the York settlement, who had lived in relative peace with the Wabanaki Confederacy, actually supported the Indian right to bear arms, and were taken by surprise when they were attacked. Governor Leverett, in ignoring the frontier colonists' requests to revoke the order, helped to set this tragedy in motion. Peter Weare was one of the colonists who probably died (or he may have been taken into slavery, although this is extremely unlikely as he was in his 70's) when Madockawando's war party attacked. Other Chute and Allied family members impacted by this event: Richard Bankes or Banks, ancestor of many of our Banks allied family members.