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King Philip's War boardgame draws ire

One player racks up points by defeating Native American tribal leaders, the other by snuffing out settlements of English colonists. Capture Boston or Plymouth Colony? Victory is yours.

That's the gist of "King Philip's War," a board game based on a bloody and violent clash of the same name between colonists and Indian tribes in 17th-century New England, and developed by a company partly owned by former major league pitcher Curt Schilling.

The game's designer says he hopes to educate children and others about a war that cost thousands of lives but receives scant attention in history books. But some Native Americans want the game blocked from release, saying it trivializes the conflict and insensitively perpetuates a stereotype of Indian tribes as bellicose savages.

Tribe members protested the game in Providence last month, and a Facebook group with more than 260 members urges a Millersville, Md.-based company, MultiManPublishing, to halt production.

"From what I've seen right now: totally inappropriate, highly offensive, nowhere near ready to be in production," said Annawon Weeden, a member of the Mashpee Wampanoags in Massachusetts, who says there are better ways to educate people about the war. "It's just a way to have fun reliving a tragedy."...
Read entire article at AP