Squanto Was an Indian Who Lived in New England. One Day, a Captain Came to Him and Asked

Squanto

·  Squanto was an Indian who lived in New England. One day, a captain came to him and asked for his help. He said that he brought things to trade with the Indians, but that he only spoke English. He needed someone to speak to the Indians for him.

·  Squanto agreed and he became very good friends with the Englishmen. They asked him if he wanted to go back to England with them. Squanto was very excited about getting to see the country the Englishmen come from.

·  Squanto lived in England for ten years. At first, everything was very different to Squanto. Over time he got used to England, and he enjoyed living there. After ten years, Squanto decided to go back home. He found out there were two ships headed to New England to explore. One was led by John Smith. The other was led by Thomas Hunt. Squanto rode on John Smith’s ship back to New England.

·  When Squanto got off the ship, he started walking toward home. He did not get very far before he was kidnapped by some men and put on Thomas Hunt’s ship. Thomas Hunt was planning to capture Indians, then take them back to Spain and sell them as slaves.

·  Squanto was sold into slavery in Spain, but he escaped and went back to England. In England, Squanto met Mr. Dermer. Mr. Dermer took care of Squanto and sailed him back to America. Mr. Dermer and Squanto arrived in America 4 months before the Pilgrims.

·  When Squanto went home, his village was gone. He learned that everyone in his village had gotten sick and died. Another chief, Massasoit, let Squanto live with his tribe. While Squanto lived with Massasoit’s tribe, he met Samoset. Samoset had met Englishmen before and made friends with them. When Samoset met the Pilgrims, he wanted Squanto to meet them too.

·  When Chief Massasoit and the Pilgrim leader met, Squanto translated for them. They made a peace treaty, which is a list of promises. They promised they would not hurt each other. They promised they would not steal from each other. They promised to help each other if they were attacked by another Indian tribe. They promised not to bring weapons when they visited with each other. They did not break these promises for over 50 years.

·  Squanto decided to live with the Pilgrims. He probably felt at home with them since he had lived with Englishmen for 10 years.

·  Squanto taught the Pilgrims how to fish and how to plant corn. He taught them to bury fish with the corn to make it grow better. He also taught them how to make maple syrup and maple sugar. Squanto taught them how to hunt. He also taught them where to find wild berries and nuts to eat.

·  When fall came, the Pilgrims had plenty of food. They decided to have a feast to celebrate, and they invited the Indians. The first Thanksgiving lasted for three days.