Squanto, << SKWAHN toh >> (1585?-1622), also called Tisquantum, was a Patuxet Indian who befriended the Pilgrims. He helped the Pilgrims survive at Plymouth Colony.
Squanto was born near what is now Plymouth, Massachusetts. In 1614, he was kidnapped by English fishermen and taken to Spain, where he was sold as a slave. He escaped to England, where he lived for several years and learned to speak English. Squanto returned home in 1619. He found that the Patuxet tribe had been wiped out by disease and the few survivors had joined the Wampanoag tribe. Squanto also joined the Wampanoag.
In 1621, Squanto met the Pilgrims, who were nearly starving after their difficult first winter at Plymouth Colony. The Pilgrims had angered the Wampanoag by stealing the Indians’ corn. Squanto served as an interpreter between the colonists and the Wampanoag chief Massasoit and helped arrange a peace treaty (see Massasoit ). Squanto then stayed with the Pilgrims. He showed them how to plant corn and where to hunt and fish.
Squanto tried to challenge Massasoit’s leadership of the Wampanoag. This plot angered the tribe, and Squanto became the enemy of the Wampanoag in 1622. He died from a fever in November of that year.
