Table of Contents:
Chapter 1: The Pequot War of 1637
Chapter 2: John Winthrop and the Official Thanksgiving Declaration (1637)
Chapter 3: The Thanksgiving Feast of 1621
Chapter 4: Squanto: The Last of the Patuxet
Chapter 5: The Kidnapping of Squanto (1621)
Chapter 6: Captain Shrimp and the Wessagusset Massacre
Chapter 4:
Squanto:
The Last of the Patuxet
Narrator: “Tisquantom, aka Squanto,
is a Wampanoag word which means “Divine Rage”. Sometimes Squanto
is translated to mean “the Wrath of God”. But Squanto the man
didn't seem to have much rage or wrath about him. Squanto was quite a
humble man, considering all of the trials and tribulations he's
endured.”
Before meeting the Pilgrim's at
Plymouth Rock on March 22, 1621, Squanto had lived quite the ordeal:
[“Fast forward version of Squanto's life”]
In March 1605, Squanto is kidnapped,
allegedly, for the first time. Squanto is kidnapped by Captain George
Weymouth who was exploring the New England coastline for Sir
Ferdinando Gorges, owner of the Plymouth Company. Weymouth captured
Squanto and five members of the Patuxet. They grabbed them by their
long hair in their heads because the natives were “so strong and so
naked”. They also lured one native into the boat by giving him a
can of peas and some bread.
Weymouth took them all with him to
England. Gorges taught Squanto English and trained him as an
interpreter. In England , Squanto lived with the family of Charles
Robbins, one of his friends on the ship. For a while, he was part of
an “Indian exhibit” on a London stage.
Squanto returned to New England in 1614
with an expedition led by Captain John Smith.
Squanto at the time was hunting for
some lobsters. Hunt captured twenty Natives from Patuxet and
seven from Nauset with a fraudulent lure of trade. Tisquantum, or
Squanto, was among the captured. They were taken to Spain to be sold
as slaves. Hunt was planning to sell fish, corn, and captured natives
in Málaga, Spain. He transported Squanto and a number of other
Native Americans to Spain, where he tried to sell them into slavery
for £20 apiece.
But Catholic Friars outraged at the
practice of selling human beings, bought the slaves, and kept them to
be instructed in the Christian Faith. After the Friars educated
Squanto in their language and religion, Squanto persuaded the Friars
to let him try to return home. Squanto was sent to London where he
lived with John Slany, a shipbuilder, for whom he worked for a few
years. John Slany taught Squanto more English.
John Slany took Squanto to Cuper's
Cove, Newfoundland in 1617.
In 1619, Squanto finally returned to
his homeland aboard John Smith's ship, having joined an exploratory
expedition along the New England coast, led by Captain Dermer.
Squanto with Dermer on a trip to New England to trade with local
Native-Americans. As Dermer and Squanto sailed along the New England
coast towards Squanto’s village, Dermer recorded his findings in
his journal:
Dermer: “[We] passed along the coast
where [we] found some ancient [Indian] plantations, not long since
populous now utterly void, in other places a remnant remains, but not
free of sickness. Their disease the plague, for we might perceive the
sores of some that escaped, who descried the spots of such as usually
die. When [we] arrived at my savage’s native country [we found] all
dead.”
Squanto: “Where are my people? What
has happened to them? What did you do to them? And now... who mourns
for Squanto? Nobody.”
Dermer is captured and barely escapes 3
or 4 times, and then dies in Virginia. Squanto lives in woods by
himself for a year.
Later on, Massasoit captures Squanto,
the last of the Patuxet. The Wampanoags were suspicious of Squanto
because of his close relationship with Dermer and turned him over to
their leader, Massosoit, at Pokanoket. There, Squanto told
Massosoit of his travels in England and claimed he could help the
Wampanoag form an alliance with the English that would make them more
powerful than any tribe in the area.
American land was sighted by the
Pilgrims on November 9, 1620. The passengers who had endured
miserable conditions for about sixty-five days on the Atlantic were
led by William Brewster in a Day of Thanksgiving.
William Brewster (on board the
Mayflower):
“Psalm 100. A Psalm of praise. Make a
joyful noise unto the LORD, all ye lands. Serve the LORD with
gladness: come before his presence with singing. Know ye that the
LORD he is God: it is he that hath made us, and not we ourselves; we
are his people, and the sheep of his pasture. Enter into his gates
with thanksgiving, and into his courts with praise: be thankful unto
him, and bless his name. For the LORD is good; his mercy is
everlasting; and his truth endureth to all generations.”
November 11, 1620 is when
the Pilgrims finally port and land in America on Plymouth Rock. The
English Protestants (Mayflower) had already landed, and were
rummaging around, and they were taking stuff off of dead Patuxet
bodies, and out of their graves. The Pilgrims also robbed the Nauset
Indian graves of the corn that had been set on them as offerings to
the dead. They also took corn out of the fields that were planted,
but seemed to have no owners to.
John Carver: “There is neither man,
woman, nor child remaining, as indeed we have found none; so as there
is none to hinder our possession, or to lay claim unto it. Thanks be
to God!”
William Brewster: “Because of this
land being emptied already for us shows us Christians that God is on
our side.”
The first Winter for the Pilgrims
were very harsh. Half of the Pilgrims starved to death. Fear of
them cannibalizing each other just like they did in Jamestown was
great. The Pilgrims died of cold weather, starvation, scurvy; small
pox; chorela; and Pneumonia. Only 53 of the original 104 survive the
Winter of 1620 in America.
On March 16, 1621:
Samoset: “Welcome Englishmen”.
[Baseball card]
Samoset
“He Who Walks Too Much”
Sagamore of the Abenaki
Sagamore of the Abenaki
On March 16, 1621, Samoset, the
Sagamore of the Abenaki, walked right up to John Carver, William
Bradford, and William Brewster and repeated:
Samoset: “Welcome! Welcome,
Englishmen!” (in English).
Pilgrim 2: “How in the hell does that
nigga know English?”
This startled the Pilgrim men. Samoset
carried with him his bow and an empty quiver. In his hand he held two
arrows, one tipped and ready for battle, the other untipped.
The Pilgrims gave Samoset a horseman's
coat to cover his body, and gave him some water, and biscuit, and
butter, and cheese, and pudding, and a piece of mallard; and a hat, a
pair of stockings and shoes, a shirt, and some cloth to tie around
his waist.
On Thursday, March 22, 1621, Samoset
returned to the colonists with a special companion, Squanto.
The Wampanoag wanted to put Squanto’s skills to the test when they met with a struggling colony of pilgrims they had been watching at Plymouth that winter. A sagamore of the Abenaki tribe who spoke broken English, Samoset, had befriended the pilgrims and after learning of the deaths and famine they suffered that winter, introduced them to Massasoit, Squanto and the rest of the tribe.
The Wampanoag wanted to put Squanto’s skills to the test when they met with a struggling colony of pilgrims they had been watching at Plymouth that winter. A sagamore of the Abenaki tribe who spoke broken English, Samoset, had befriended the pilgrims and after learning of the deaths and famine they suffered that winter, introduced them to Massasoit, Squanto and the rest of the tribe.
Samoset and Squanto conducted some
business with the Pilgrims, offering dried herring. But the real
reason for Squanto's visit was to inform the colonists that the great
sachem, or king, of the Wampanoag named Massasoit was waiting
nearby with the Nemasket and wanted to meet with the Pilgrims.
Later that day, Massasoit did
appear, with his brother Quadequina and 60 of his men, at the top of
the hill overlooking the colonists. Although there was some
initial reluctance on the part of both parties to send emissaries,
they eventually met and exchanged gifts and entertainment. The
meeting was the beginning of Massasoit's long-term friendship and
defense pact with the Pilgrims.
Massasoit soon struck a deal with
pilgrims, agreeing to help their colony survive if they promised not
to harm the tribe. Massasoit asked the pilgrims to form an
alliance with them to protect them from rival tribes, because
Massasoit feared that his tribe’s
weakened state might spark an invasion from rivals to the south,
notably the Narragansett. Massasoit noted that the Pilgrims had a few
cannons and guns that could help even the odds.
William
Bradford: “If any did unjustly war against him [Massosoit],
they would aid him; if any did war against them, he should aid them.”
Squanto spends most of his helping the
English learn of the native American ways in agriculture, and other
food gathering techniques. Squanto teaches the Pilgrims how to Farm.
Squanto told the Pilgrims what to plant, such as Potatoes, Tomatoes,
Tobacco, Corn, Squash, Pumpkin, and showed them the best
fishing locations. Squanto showed the English a way to catch eels by
treading them out of the mud with his feet. Squanto used menhaden
fish to fertilize corn crops, and he utilizes crop rotation methods.
[Squanto shows a Pilgrim that you flip the hoe around, and use a hoe
with the metal end in the ground] Squanto shows the Separatist Pilgrims
to build warm houses, and Squanto taught the Pilgrim women how to
cook corn.
In April 1621, Governor John Carver
collapsed while working in the fields on a hot day. He died a few
days later. The settlers of Plymouth then chose William Bradford as
the new governor, a position he would retain for most of the rest of
his life.
Governor Bradford was impartial to
Squanto while Myles Standish trusted Hobbamock more.
So
even though Protestants had kidnapped Squanto two times, tried to
sell him into slavery, genocided his whole family, Squanto didn't
carry on the Catholic versus Protestant grudge back to America with
him. One would think after being enslaved two different times,
and slaying his whole family, that Squanto would hold some ill will
over these new Protestant English conquerors, but Squanto, the Wrath
of God, the Divine Rage, did not.
[last fast forward
story]
Squanto's Plague
Squanto is talking to some of the
Massachusetts as an ambassador for Plimouth Plantations.
Squanto: “Chief Massasoit has already
signed a peace treaty with the English, and it would behoove the
Massachusetts to also sign the peace treaty. It's a treaty that says
that everybody will live in peace, and who can't be happy with such a
glorious offer?”
Chief Chickatawbut of the
Massachusetts: “The Nordic and the Gaelic paleface have done
nothing but destroy our world. They destroyed the shine I built for
my mother when she passed onto the other side. I put two bearskins
over the grave she now lays, but the English took those bearskins,
and did whatever they did with them. How can we trust them? How can
you trust them?”
Squanto: “The paleface brings us new
goods, and weapons so that we can defend ourselves with it. The
Europeans are a blessing and a curse, but only as human beings, which
we ourselves cannot claim to be better than. Look, while this is a
peace mission, we will not tolerate those who cannot agree to the
Wampanoag and Englishmen peace treaty. ”
Chickatawbut: I would love to be
convinced of this peace you claim to offer, but we can agree if you
must threaten us with violence. An idea who needs violence to defend
it, isn't an idea worth considering.”
Squanto: “I already warned you. The
English know things that the Indians do not know. The red man
understands that many Aborigines have died to a plague, but what they
do not understand, is that the English are the ones who gave that
plague to us, and spread it around. The plague doest not touch them,
but they can utilize the plague anytime they want to use it against
the indigenous of Turtle Island.”
Chickatawbut: “I don't believe you.
They are wizards? They are sorcerers? Even my own witch doctor I
don't believe in.”
Squanto: “I can prove you it to you.
They keep the plague is large round containers, that they hide
underneath their homes.”
[show a pilgrim putting a large Barrel
full of gunpower into the ground]
Chickatawbut signed the treaty.
Squanto kept going about to the tribes
in early New England like this, and even suggested that Massasoit was
thinking about renegging on his promise to the English, and then the
Indians would have to listen to all the English told them to do.
Massasoit finally received word of this rumor of conspiracy and was
so greatly shocked that he personally appeared at Plymouth to clear
himself of all the rumored charges.
When Squanto was formally accused of
participating in spreading this rumor of conspiracy, he offered no
denial and placed himself at the mercy of Governor Bradford and,
having a “friend in court,” was spared punishment.
Massasoit: “The English-Wampanoag
Treaty of 1621 explicitly states that we will hold those who wrong
the other to account for their actions.”
Bradford: “I agree that is what we
agreed upon, but I do not believe that Squanto should die for this.”
Pilgrim 1: “A new ship has just
anchored off the coast! Come quick! It might be the French attacking
us!”
The Ship “Fortune” came aground,
and that diverted the situation about Squanto's lies. Eventually
Massasoit quit asking for Squanto's custody.
Governor Bradford
really liked Squanto, but Myles Standish's main man was Hobbamock.
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