Squanto
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Tisquantum (better known as Squanto) (died November 1622) was one of two Native American 'Indians' (Samoset being the other) that assisted the Pilgrims during their first winter in the New World. He was a member of the Pawtuxet tribe, a subtribe of the Wampanoag Confederacy.
It was not unknown for early explorers of what would eventually become the continent of America to take 'Indians' back to Europe with them. Squanto was kidnapped and taken to England by George Weymouth in 1605.
He worked in England for nine years before returning to the New World on John Smith's 1613 voyage.
No sooner had Squanto returned to his tribe than he was unduly kidnapped by another Englishman, Thomas Hunt. He was taken as a slave to Málaga, Spain, where Hunt attempted to sell Squanto and a number of other Native Americans into slavery.
Some local friars, however, discovered what Hunt was attempting and took the remaining Indians, Squanto included, in order to instruct them in the Christian faith. Tisquantum lived in the monastery until 1618, after which he worked for a time in London, England.
Another account is that he escaped to London and then went to Cuper's Cove, Newfoundland. He returned to England in 1618.
He returned once more to his homeland in 1619, where he joined an exploratory expedition along the New England coast. He was soon to discover that his tribe had been decimated the year before by a terrible plague, possibly smallpox.
Squanto finally settled with the Pilgrims and saw them through their first difficult winter. His motives for helping them were not philanthropic for Squanto had purely selfish reasons, and by late 1621 he was using his position with the Pilgrims for his own gain, threatening to release "the terrible plague" upon American Indian tribes that did not do his bidding.
He worked as a teacher and interpreter for the Pilgrims for the next year before succumbing to a sudden fever. He died a few days later.
External links
- Encyclopedia of North American Indians (http://college.hmco.com/history/readerscomp/naind/html/na_037000_squanto.htm)
- The History of Tisquantum (http://members.aol.com/calebj/squanto.html), Caleb Johnson, 1997, with references
- Biography at the Dictionary of Canadian Biography Online (http://www.biographi.ca/EN/ShowBio.asp?BioId=34685)de:Squanto