The Information Super-Frog

Traditionally, historians have argued that the witchcraft crisis resulted from factionalism in Salem Village, deliberate faking, or possibly the ingestion of hallucinogens by the afflicted. I believe another force was at work. The events in Salem were precipitated by a conflict with the Indians on the northeastern frontier, the most significant surge of violence in the region in nearly 40 years.

In two little-known wars, fought largely in Maine between 1675-1678 and 1688-1699, English settlers suffered devastating losses at the hands of the Wabanaki Indians and their French allies[...]
It is worth noting that while Tituba, one of the first people accused of witchcraft, [was] an American Indian. [...] To the Puritan settlers, who believed themselves to be God's chosen people, witchcraft explained why they were losing the war so badly. Their Indian enemies had the Devil on their side. His diabolical assistance allowed them to lay waste to frontier settlements — and then disappear.