Samoset, << SAM oh seht >> (1590?-1653?), was one of the first Native American friends of the Pilgrim settlers of the Plymouth Colony. He was a chief of the Pemaquid people. Samoset probably first came into contact with English people when he met some fishermen along the coast of Maine. He learned a little English from them. In March 1621, he startled the Plymouth colonists by appearing on the street and welcoming them in broken English. He later introduced the colony’s leaders to Massasoit, a chief of the Plymouth area, and to Squanto, a leader whose English was better than Samoset’s. In 1625, Samoset made what is believed to be the first deed of Native American land to English colonists in Maine. He transferred 12,000 acres (4,856 hectares) of his tribe’s land to John Brown, a settler.
