Section 1 - Part 2, Anno 1660, Actatis Suae 15, Great Harbor Summary

Chapter 4 - When a whale strands itself on the beach, the white community gathers to slaughter it and take its fat for melting down into oil. Bethia describes how she sees this as an act of theft, as it was generally understood that such whales belonged, by tradition, to the Wampanoag. When she goes in search of firewood, she discovers a group of the Wampanoag engaged in a celebratory feast and dance, and becomes fascinated with the both the ceremony and the stately dancing of the Wampanoag women. She returns to the site of the slaughter, where she is berated by Makepeace for her absence, but later that night, returns to the site of the ceremony, where the power and intensity of the drumming and dancing has increased. She...