During King Philip's War in 1676, the most devastating conflict in colonial New England's history, the Narragansett people made a decision that has puzzled historians for centuries. Despite having every reason and ample capacity to destroy the small settlement of Providence, Rhode Island, they chose instead to spare it. The story of why they did so reveals a complex web of diplomacy, personal relationships, and Indigenous political calculation that challenges simplistic narratives about colonial-era warfare. The Narragansett occupied a powerful position in southern New England. They were the largest tribe in the region, maintaining a population and military capability that made them a force no colonial settlement could afford to ignore. Their relationship with Providence and its founder Roger Williams was unique among colonial-Indigenous interactio ...