Tisquantum (c. 1580s – November 1622) was a Patuxet. He was the
Native AmericanThe indigenous peoples of the Americas are the pre-Columbian inhabitants of North and South America, their descendants and other ethnic groups who are identified with those peoples. Indigenous peoples are known in Canada as Aboriginal peoples, and in the United States as Native Americans...
who assisted the Pilgrims after their first winter in the New World and was integral to their survival. The Patuxet tribe was a
tributaryThe term tributary state refers to one of the two main ways in which a pre-modern state might be subordinate to a more powerful neighbour. The heart of the relationship was that the tributary would send a regular token of submission to the superior power...
of the Wampanoag Confederacy.
Biography
Squanto's exact date of birth is unknown but many historians listed it as January 1, 1580. On his way back to the Patuxet in 1614, Tisquantum was kidnapped by Englishman Thomas Hunt. Hunt was one of John Smith's lieutenants. Hunt was planning to sell fish, corn, and captured natives in
MálagaMálaga is a city and a municipality in the Autonomous Community of Andalusia, Spain. With a population of 568,507 in 2010, it is the second most populous city of Andalusia and the sixth largest in Spain. This is the southernmost large city in Europe...
,
SpainSpain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
. There Hunt attempted to sell Tisquantum and a number of other
Native AmericansNative Americans in the United States are the indigenous peoples in North America within the boundaries of the present-day continental United States, parts of Alaska, and the island state of Hawaii. They are composed of numerous, distinct tribes, states, and ethnic groups, many of which survive as...
into slavery in Spain for £20 apiece.
Some local friars discovered what Hunt was attempting and took the remaining Native Americans — Tisquantum included — in order to instruct them in the
ChristianA Christian is a person who adheres to Christianity, an Abrahamic, monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth as recorded in the Canonical gospels and the letters of the New Testament...
faith. Tisquantum convinced the friars to let him try to return home. He managed to get to
LondonLondon is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
, where he lived with and worked for a few years with John Slany, a shipbuilder who apparently taught Tisquantum more English. Slany took Tisquantum with him when he sailed to Cuper's Cove,
Newfoundland. To get to New England, Tisquantum tried to take part in an expedition to that part of the North American east coast. When that plan fell through, he returned to
EnglandEngland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
in 1618.
At last in 1619 Tisquantum returned to his homeland, having joined an exploratory expedition along the New England coast, led by Captain
Thomas DermerThomas Dermer was a 17th century navigator and explorer.Dermer went first to New England with Captain John Smith, who was sent out in 1614 by London merchants to lay the foundations of a new plantation and to trade with the Indians there...
. He soon discovered that the
PatuxetThe Patuxet are an extinct Native American tribe of the Wampanoag tribal confederation. They lived primarily in and around the area of what has since been settled as Plymouth, Massachusetts.-Devastation:...
, as well as a majority of coastal New England tribes (mostly Wampanoag and
MassachusettThe Massachusett are a tribe of Native Americans who lived in areas surrounding Massachusetts Bay in what is now the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, in particular present-day Greater Boston; they spoke the Massachusett language...
), had been decimated the year before by an
epidemicIn epidemiology, an epidemic , occurs when new cases of a certain disease, in a given human population, and during a given period, substantially exceed what is expected based on recent experience...
plagueA pandemic is an epidemic of infectious disease that is spreading through human populations across a large region; for instance multiple continents, or even worldwide. A widespread endemic disease that is stable in terms of how many people are getting sick from it is not a pandemic...
, possibly
smallpoxSmallpox was an infectious disease unique to humans, caused by either of two virus variants, Variola major and Variola minor. The disease is also known by the Latin names Variola or Variola vera, which is a derivative of the Latin varius, meaning "spotted", or varus, meaning "pimple"...
; it has recently been postulated as having been
leptospirosisLeptospirosis is caused by infection with bacteria of the genus Leptospira, and affects humans as well as other mammals, birds, amphibians, and reptiles.The...
. Native Americans had no natural
immunityImmunity is a biological term that describes a state of having sufficient biological defenses to avoid infection, disease, or other unwanted biological invasion. Immunity involves both specific and non-specific components. The non-specific components act either as barriers or as eliminators of wide...
to European infectious diseases.
Tisquantum finally settled with Pilgrims at the site of his former village, which the English named Plymouth. He helped them recover from an extremely hard first winter by teaching them
the native method of Maize cultivationThe Three Sisters are the three main agricultural crops of various Native American groups in North America: squash, maize, and climbing beans ....
. This method utilized local fish (
herringHerring is an oily fish of the genus Clupea, found in the shallow, temperate waters of the North Pacific and the North Atlantic oceans, including the Baltic Sea. Three species of Clupea are recognized. The main taxa, the Atlantic herring and the Pacific herring may each be divided into subspecies...
) to fertilize crops. He likewise taught the colonists how to catch the herring necessary to fertilize maize in the native fashion along with the methods by which they could catch
eelsThe American eel, Anguilla rostrata, is a catadromous fish found on the eastern coast of North America. It has a snake-like body with a small sharp pointed head. It is brown on top and a tan-yellow color on the bottom. It has sharp pointed teeth but no pelvic fins...
and other local wildlife for food.
In 1621 Tisquantum was the guide and translator for settlers
Stephen HopkinsStephen Hopkins , was a tanner and merchant who was one of the passengers on the Mayflower in 1620, settling in Plymouth Colony. Hopkins was recruited by the Merchant Adventurers to provide governance for the colony as well as assist with the colony's ventures...
and
Edward WinslowEdward Winslow was an English Pilgrim leader on the Mayflower. He served as the governor of Plymouth Colony in 1633, 1636, and finally in 1644...
as they traveled upland on a diplomatic mission to the Wampanoag
sachemA sachem[p] or sagamore is a paramount chief among the Algonquians or other northeast American tribes. The two words are anglicizations of cognate terms from different Eastern Algonquian languages...
, known today as
MassasoitMassasoit Sachem or Ousamequin ,was the sachem, or leader, of the Pokanoket, and "Massasoit" of the Wampanoag Confederacy. The term Massasoit means Great Sachem.-Early years:...
. In a subsequent mission for Governor William Bradford that summer, Tisquantum was captured by Wampanoag while gathering intelligence on the renegade
sagamoreA sachem[p] or sagamore is a paramount chief among the Algonquians or other northeast American tribes. The two words are anglicizations of cognate terms from different Eastern Algonquian languages...
,
CorbitantCorbitant was a Wampanoag Indian sachem or sagamore under Massasoit. Corbitant was sachem of the Pocasset tribe in present-day North Tiverton, Rhode Island, ca. 1618-1630....
, at the village of
Nemasket (site of present-day Middleborough, Massachusetts.)
Myles StandishMyles Standish was an English military officer hired by the Pilgrims as military advisor for Plymouth Colony. One of the Mayflower passengers, Standish played a leading role in the administration and defense of Plymouth Colony from its inception...
led a ten-man team of settlers from Plymouth to rescue Tisquantum if he were alive or, if he had been killed, to avenge him. Tisquantum was found alive and well. He was welcomed back by the Pilgrims at Plymouth, where he continued in his vital role as assistant to the colony.
Although he worked at alliances, Tisquantum ended up distrusted by both the English and the Wampanoag.
MassasoitMassasoit Sachem or Ousamequin ,was the sachem, or leader, of the Pokanoket, and "Massasoit" of the Wampanoag Confederacy. The term Massasoit means Great Sachem.-Early years:...
, the
sachem who first appointed Tisquantum as liaison to the Pilgrims, nevertheless did not trust him in the tribe's dealings with the settlers. He assigned
HobamokHobomok was a Native American who served as a guide, interpreter, and aide to the Pilgrims of Plymouth, Massachusetts. Like Tisquantom, better known as Squanto, Hobomok was essential to the survival and diplomatic success of the English in New England...
(whose name may have been a
pseudonymA pseudonym is a name that a person assumes for a particular purpose and that differs from his or her original orthonym...
, as it meant "mischievous"), to watch over Tisquantum and act as a second representative.
On his way back from a meeting to repair damaged relations between the Wampanoag and Pilgrims, Tisquantum became sick with a fever. Some historians have speculated that he was poisoned by the Wampanoag because they believed he had been disloyal to the
sachem. Tisquantum died a few days later in 1622 in
Chatham, MassachusettsChatham is a town in Barnstable County, Massachusetts, United States, Barnstable County being coextensive with Cape Cod. The population was 6,625 at the 2000 census...
. He was buried in an unmarked grave, possibly in Plymouth's cemetery
Burial HillBurial Hill is a hill containing a historic cemetery in Plymouth, Massachusetts. The burial ground is the burial site of several Pilgrims. The cemetery was founded in the 17th century and is located off Leyden Street, the first street in Plymouth.-History:The first Pilgrim burial ground was on...
. Peace between the two groups lasted for another fifty years.
Governor William Bradford, in
Bradford's History of the English Settlement, wrote regarding Tisquantum's death:
Here [Manamoick Bay] Squanto fell ill of Indian fever, bleeding much at the nose, which the Indians take as a symptom of death, and within a few days he died. He begged the Governor to pray for him, that he might go to the Englishman's God in heaven, and bequeathed several of his things to his English friends, as remembrances. His death was a great loss.
Fictional representations
Tisquantum appeared in "The Mayflower Voyagers", a 1988 episode of the Peanuts television miniseries watch This Is America, Charlie Brown. Ot has lots of facts
Canadian actor
Adam BeachAdam Ruebin Beach is a Canadian Saulteaux actor.He is best known for his roles as Tommy on Walker, Texas Ranger, Kickin' Wing in Joe Dirt, Marine Private First Class Ira Hayes in Flags of Our Fathers, Private Ben Yazzie in Windtalkers, Dr...
portrayed Tisquantum in Disney's 1994 live-action film
Squanto: A Warrior's TaleSquanto: A Warrior's Tale is a 1994 theatrical live action Disney adventure film. It was written by Darlene Craviato. Xavier Koller and Christopher Stoia were the directors. It is very loosely based on the actual historical Native American figure Squanto, and his life prior to and including the...
.
Cree actor Kennetch Charlette portrayed Squanto in
Dear AmericaDear America is a series of historical fiction novels for older girls published by Scholastic in 1996. The series was cancelled in 2004 with its final release, Hear My Sorrow. However, it was relaunched in the fall of 2010. Each book is written in the form of a diary of a young woman's life during...
's 1999 episode
A Journey to the New World.
Primary sources
- Bradford, W. Governor William Bradford's Letter Book. Boston: Applewood, 2002 (reprint from 1906).
- Bradford, W. Of Plymouth Plantation, 1620-1647. New York: Modern Library 1981 (1856).[1]
- Gorges, Ferdinand. "A Briefe Relation of the Discovery and Plantation of New England," in Baxter 1890, I:203-40 (1622).
- Morton, T. New English Canaan, or New Canaan. London: Charles Green, 1637.
- Winslow, E. Good Newes from New-England: or A True Relation of Things Very Remarkable at the Plantation of Plimoth in New-England. London: William Bladen and John Bellamie, 1624
Secondary sources
- Cell, G.T. "The Newfoundland Company: A Study of Subscribers to a Colonizing Venture", William & Mary Quarterly (WMQ) 22:611-25, 1965.
- Deetz, J. and P.S. Deetz. The Times of Their Lives: Life, Love, and Death in Plymouth Colony. New York: Random House, 2000.
- Mann, Charles. 1491: New Revelations of the Americas Before Columbus, New York: Random House, 2005.
- Nash, Struggle and Survival in Colonial America, Berkeley, CA: University of California Press, 228-45, 1989.
- Salisbury, N. "Squanto: The Last of the Patuxets," in D.G. Sweet and G.B. Nash, Struggle and Survival in Colonial America, Berkeley, CA: University of California Press, 228-45, 1989.
- Salisbury, N. Manitou and Providence: Indians, Europeans, and the Making of New England, 1500-1643. New York: Oxford University Press, 1982.
- Weston, Thomas. History of the Town of Middleboro Massachusetts 1669-1905, Boston and New York: Houghton, Mifflin and Company, 1906.
External links