Excerpt from the article…

Standish invited elite warriors Pecksuot, Wituwamat, and others to attend an impromptu peace negotiation in the blockhouse at Wessagusset. Pecksuot, according to contemporary accounts, told Standish that, although he was a great captain, he was still a “little man.” The tribal warriors agreed to sit down for a meal with the Pilgrim commander. Nathaniel Philbrick, author of the nonfiction bestseller “Mayflower,” describes what happened next:

“Once they had all sat down and begun to eat, the captain signaled for the door to be shut. He turned to Pecksuot and grabbed the knife from the string around [his] neck. Before the Indian had a chance to respond, Standish had begun stabbing him with his own weapon. The point was needle sharp, and Pecksuot’s chest was soon riddled with blood-spurting wounds. As Standish and Pecksuot struggled, the other Pilgrims assaulted Wituwamat and his companion.”

Seven Natives were slaughtered that day in what many history books refer to – without describing the massacre – as the Pilgrims’ “pre-emptive attack” against an Indian threat. Following the captain’s “terrifying whirlwind of violence,” Philbrick writes that Standish carried the head of Wituwamat back to New Plymouth. His soldiers were “received with joy.” Hailed as a hero, Standish mounted the severed head of the Indian warrior on a pole and displayed it on the roof of the fort.

For those sympathetic to the above Washington Post article, this link might also be of interest. (Mother Bear is in upper right) https://journeyofhealing.net/sisters-of-the-light/