Thanksgiving Story of Squanto: The Indian Who Traveled Across the Sea Most Americans have probably heard of Squanto the Wampanoag Indian, who befriended the pilgrims at Plymouth Rock. But I wonder how many know all the trials and tribulations that the young man had seen in the world, before the colonists had ever set foot on New Englands distant shore. When the pilgrims first arrived at Plymouth, Squanto or Tisquantum, as he was known in his own language, was living in a nearby village. At that point in his short life, he had been across the ocean three times. Even today in the age of aviation, that is a lot of traveling. Back at the beginning of the seventeenth century the Wampanoag native from the Patuxet village was a world traveler. The first trip was courtesy of a Captain George Weymouth of Plymouth, England, who in 1605 took five Indians captive, somewhere in the vicinity of what we now call Boston. The native from Patuxet was the last one taken aboard Captain Weymouths ship, and it seems that he was not really a captive, but entered the domain of the English by means of his own young curiosity. Squanto was probably somewhere near his twentieth birthday at the time. For nine years the young Indian was employed at the Weymouth household in Plymouth, England. According to written accounts, Tisquantum was well treated, for Captain Weymouth was most interested in teaching the New World native English in order to learn, as much as he could about native life in North America. Over the course of a few years, the other four captives were returned safely to their homeland. Squanto remained for a longer period time, perhaps, because he felt more comfortable in the presence of the English. In the spring of 1614 Tisquantum set sail for the North America with none other than a Captain John Smith, of Pocahontas fame. Within a month of the very day that Captain Smith left England with Squanto employed as a guide, Pocahontas arrived for the first time in England. She was accompanied by her new-born son and also her husband, John Rolfe. The newly-wed couple from the Virginia colony soon took up residence at the Rolfe family home, which by coincidence, was also located in the English city of Plymouth. Squantos life took a turn for the worst when he left the company of Captain Smith, to be temporarily employed by a Captain Thomas Hunt, who was an English associate of Captain Smith. Smith and Hunts venture in the New World was not going well and so Captain Hunt, without Smiths knowledge, sold Squanto and approximately twenty other Indians from the Cape Cod area to a Spanish trader, who took the human cargo to Malaga, Spain. Malaga had been a entry port for New World slaves long before Squantos ship arrived. Most of the Wampanoag Indians were sold at twenty ponds a piece, but somehow, Squanto ended up at the home of some Spanish Friars, who took good care of the New England native. While in their clergys care, Squanto was taught the Christian way. Within two years the invincible Patuxet was back on his way to the British Isles, London to be exact, with an Englishman by the name of Sir John Slaney. In 1617, the same year that Pocahontas died in England, Squanto made his second trip across the Atlantic, employed as a guide and interpreter for John Slaney, who was trying his own hand at commercial profit in the New World. Sir Slaneys voyage was only marginally successful and so by the end of 1617, Squanto was back in England. In the spring of 1619 he returned again to the New World, this time with an expedition organized by a Spanish gentleman of the name, Sir Ferdinando Gorges. Evidently, the young mans services as an interpreter and guide were in high demand by the adventurers to North America. It was on this voyage that he visited his original village, which was located not far from present-day Plymouth, Massachusetts. To his sadness he discovered that the whole settlement had been wiped out by the plague that had wrecked havoc on the native communities of coastal New England in the years 1616 and 1617. Squanto went to live in a nearby Indian village and never did return again to the British Isles. When the pilgrims arrived at Plymouth Rock, Squanto, who was living nearby, proved invaluable as an interpreter. Contrary to popular belief Squanto was not present during the pilgrims first winter. That honor belonged to another Indian, named Samoset. In the spring of 1621, Samoset asked Squanto to accompany him on a visit to the English settlement. Samosets English was very limited and he very much needed someone like Squantos to better understand the English. By the end of 1623 Squanto had died, he too a victim of the Indian plague, but not before he had served innumerable benefits for the pilgrims both as a peacemaker and also as an interpreter. The peace that Tisquantum helped create lasted fifty years, plus he was of much value to the newcomers because of his ability to explain survival techniques. His biggest problem may have been with his native peers. He was not trusted by the other villages of the Wampanoag alliance, because he often used his job as translator, as a position of power. It is reported that he threatened his own people with death by plague, if they did not follow his advice. Strange that Squanto should die by the very means of which he abused his power. Still, a look at Tisquantums live gives us an unique glimpse into the realm of Native American and European contacts in coastal New England, prior to the settlement at Plymouth. ~Henri Bauholz, Yahoo Contributor Network Sources: rootsweb/~mosmd/squanto.htm en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Squanto en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pocahontas
Posted on: Thu, 28 Nov 2013 02:49:55 +0000
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