This time of the year always gets me thinking about those who walked the lands where I live hundreds of years ago. Thanksgiving is usually the catalyst for these musings and quickly leads into amazement at the natural elements the early settlers had to endure. They were used to the more temperate climates of northern Europe that are strongly influenced by the more moderate temperatures of the Atlantic Gulf Stream. We complain about the early cold snap, yet we can always retreat to the warmth of a well-insulated home, protected from winter’s wind.
When the Pilgrims arrived, there was no shelter, no stockpiled firewood, very little food, and below-average winter temperatures. One has to admire the fortitude of these men, women and children to have survived even one year past their first encounter with the New World on the shores of Cape Cod.
Note that I am not at all unsympathetic or unappreciative of the Native Americans who lived in this area. The Indians were, however pretty well acclimated to the environment and were masters at growing and hunting food. Early accounts tell of the Indians walking about with nothing more than loincloths, even in late fall when the temperatures dip regularly into the thirties and forties Fahrenheit. Tragically, however, the Indians were not immune to the European illnesses introduced to North America by the Pilgrims and explorers who came before them. In the couple years before the Pilgrims arrived, a severe epidemic devastated the Native American population throughout New England. Literally thousands of Indians died –- upwards of 90% of the population in some places. Entire villages were completely wiped out. It is thought that this was the bubonic plague introduced by European fishermen into Maine then rapidly spread southward.
In an earlier blog post, I referenced the book, In the Heart of the Sea: The Tragedy of the Whaleship Essex by Nathaniel Philbrick. This story was reportedly the inspiration for Herman Melville’s “Moby Dick.” I recently learned of another book by this same terrific author, Mayflower, a Story of Courage, Community, and War. This story, as you might guess is the history of the early settlement of New England in the first half of the 1600’s. Philbrick provides the historical context for the Pilgrims leaving England and gradually making their way to Plymouth. Below are excerpts from the opening passage of this wonderfully entertaining and educational book:
For sixty-five days, the Mayflower had blundered her way through storms and headwinds, her bottom a shaggy pelt of seaweed and barnacles, her leaky decks spewing salt water onto her passengers’ devoted heads. There were 102 of them – 104 if you counted the two dogs: a spaniel and a giant slobbering mastiff. … The passengers were in the between, or ‘tween, decks – a dank airless space about seventy-five feet long and not even five feet high that separated the hold from the upper deck. … A series of thin-walled cabins had been built, creating a crowded warren of rooms that overflowed with people and their possessions: chests of clothing, casks of food, chairs, pillows, rugs, and omni-present chamber pots.
Simply put, the Pilgrims were motivated by religious principals. They aspired to a purer, more literal interpretation of the New Testament and these beliefs were at odds with King James and the Church of England. Given that the Pilgrims held themselves separate from the Church of England, they were referred to as ‘Separatists.’ King James made it a priority to harass the Pilgrims out of existence.
An interesting fact is that of the passenger composition of the first passage of the Mayflower to the New World. Contrary to popular assumption that the ship’s passengers were exclusively pilgrim Separatists, in fact they were only fifty percent of the list. The other half being ‘Strangers,’ added to the passenger list in order to protect the interests of the investors who backed the voyage. However, since the Pilgrims could be counted on to vote as a single block, there could be no doubt that the governing of the early colony would be firmly in the hands of the Pilgrims.
You see, the Separatists were eager to found a colony where they could practice their religious beliefs without fear of persecution. But, they had no means to pay for the passage to the New World. They also needed provisions to feed them until locally grown crops could sustain them, and the hard stuffs (building tools and armaments) necessary to establish the colony. So, they signed an agreement with a group of English investors called the ‘Adventurers’ who provided the funds in return for the wealth of goods that the New World would produce.
In the end, it was a bad deal for both parties, the Separatists were compelled to agree to providing the Adventurers with one hundred percent of their output versus a more equitable 60/40% split as was first negotiated. As for the Adventurers, the group was dissolved some years later without having recovered its investment. Unexpected hardships, poor crops in the early years, lack of hunting skills to provide pelts, and shipments home stolen by England’s enemies all contributed to an extremely prolonged repayment of the original debt.
A fascinating subplot of the Pilgrims’ own story is the relationship that they built with Massasoit, Sachem (Chief) of the Pokanokets. This tribe was one of several powerful –- and sometimes warring -– Native American Nations in early New England. Because many of the others, like the Narragansetts, Nipmucks, Mohegans, Wampanoags, and Nausets had been decimated by the plague mentioned above, there was a significant power vacuum in the region. One could speculate that Massasoit saw a perfect opportunity to befriend the new arrivals -– foreign though they were -– in order to have an ally armed with guns to keep rival Indian tribes in check.
Very early on, in the Spring following their November arrival the Pilgrims and the Pokanoket Tribe, lead by Massasoit negotiated a treaty, paraphrased below, which is remarkable in its comprehensiveness yet brevity.
1. The Pokanokets would not harm the Pilgrims.
2. If a Pokanoket did injure a Pilgrim, the offender would be handed over for punishment.
3. Neither the Pilgrims nor Pokanokets would harm or steal from the other.
4. If anyone warred against the Pokanokets or Pilgrims, they would come to each other’s assistance.
5. Massasoit was to spread the word to the other tribes to assure them of the Pilgrims’ peaceful intentions.
6. Both the Pokanokets and Pilgrims should be unarmed in each other’s presence.
Would that our current global treaties were as straightforward!
As an interesting aside, the Pilgrims broke the agreement on at least two occasions, yet the Pokanokets showed remarkable tolerance, patience and a seemingly bottomless ability to tolerate the behavior of these new comers.
Relations between the neighboring tribes and the Pilgrims flourished after this treaty was agreed upon –- at least for a time. In fact, relations became quite easy-going, with local Indians visiting the Pilgrims on a regular basis. Of course, the Pilgrims were obliged to be hospitable and entertain these guests whenever they dropped by. Given that the Pilgrims were struggling to feed themselves, the situation was quickly getting out of hand and would cause significant hardships in the coming winter when every morsel of food would be essential for survival.
To solve the problem, the Pilgrims devised a way of verifying that Massasoit sanctioned the visitors. They presented Massasoit with a copper necklace and told him that, if anyone came bearing this necklace, they would be welcomed and entertained by the Pilgrims as an ally of Massasoit himself. But if a visitor came without the necklace, they would be turned away.
As I read Philbrick’s account of these early years, I was struck by the simplicity and sophistication of the interactions among the significant parties. All the while that the Pilgrims were struggling to stay alive in this barren land with nothing more than their own muscles to provide the labor (oxen and horses had not yet been brought from England), they were grappling with carefully negotiated trading and treaty agreements. One can’t help but admire their resilience and determination.
In the same way that the Pilgrims didn’t know what the next day would bring to their situation, so are we today no more able to discern what tomorrow will bring in the world economy. Each day we seem to hang on any bit of news to see the effect that it will have on world economies as well as on our personal lives. How will this affect our own ability to survive in the coming years?
Over the past weeks, we have already heard the calls for increased regulation in order to ensure that the current economic situation doesn’t happen again. We are collectively outraged by the apparent lack of awareness of senior executives at failed companies as to the financial instability of the firms that they managed. We can expect the U.S. Congress to enact legislation that will require much more stringent oversight and accountability within public as well as private companies. My personal prediction is that the coming regulations will make the compliance requirements of Sarbanes Oxley pale by comparison.
Central to these looming requirements is the ability to answer: “WHO had access to WHAT information and WHEN did they access it?” The full compliment of identity management functionality is required to answer this. Companies need to deploy Identity and Access Management solutions to govern the access to applications and business data. Companies also need to deploy Compliance solutions to be able to report on the activities of the persons with these access privileges in order to unequivocally determine who had knowledge and when did they have it.
Think of the first set of functionality as “Identity 1.0” technologies. These are the foundational products that must be in place in order to control the basic access, directory, and provisioning needs. Compliance and reporting provide the “Identity 2.0” functions for the more sophisticated regulatory reporting that will be required. Unless companies have already established their Identity 1.0 strategy and deployed the requisite solutions, they will be severely challenged to implement Identity 2.0 solutions required to answer the “Who, What, and When” questions that compliance auditors will be asking in the not-too-distant future.
We are all Pilgrims in these new economic circumstances and landscape. How we prepare for the journey will determine whether we are able to weather the uncertain times that lie ahead.
