When the Pilgrims arrived in 1620 they came ashore land belonging to the Indian Tribe called the Wampanoag’s. These Native Americans were a part of the Woodland Indian Culture and lived in small villages on the coast of Massachusetts and Rhode Island.
The Wampanoag Indians
The Wampanoags were nomadic meaning that they would pull up there houses and belongings and move several times a year to go where they could easily get food. That meant their houses had to be easy to assemble and disassemble. They lived in wigwams made of a series of poles covered with flat sheets of tree bark. They would move to where the rivers run to fish fresh water fish in the spring, then near the forest in the summer to hunt. They moved inland in the winter to protect themselves from the nasty winter weather on the coast. From December to April they had to live off of what they saved earlier or go hungry.
The Wampanoags used animal skins to dress themselves. Men wore breech cloths that was deerskin looped over a belt in the front and in the back. Women work wrap skirts that were also made from deerskin. In the winter they added capes, leggings and moccasins to protect them from the cold. They also used bear, beaver, otter and other fur bearing creatures for clothing as well. The Wampanoag men would braid their hair and wear a single feather.
Each village had its own governing power. They had a democratic system that was studied by Benjamin Franklin about 150 years later. The Wampanoag’s were a very respectful people. They fed any visitor that may show up at their door and this is the reason they helped the colonists when they began to settle in Plymouth.
Squanto
The wheat seed that was brought by the colonists would not grow in the soil that was prevalent in the area so they had to make do with what was available locally. Squanto, whose real name was Tisquantum, was a member of the Patuxet tribe and that tribe was part of the Wampanoag tribe. Squanto’s home was originally on the site where the Mayflower colonists built their homes. He had been met an earlier English explorer named John Weymouth, which is how he learned the English Language. He was kidnapped by a British slaver along with many other members of his village and sold to the Spanish in the Caribbean. Squanto was befriended by a Spanish priest and he helped him escape. Squanto came back to find his tribe was gone, either dead from disease or driven away. He went to stay with the local Wampanoags.
Squanto found the colonists in the spring and he walked into town and welcomed then. He saw how desperate the colonists were. They had no food and almost half of them had died during the winter. He stayed with them and taught them what food they could find locally, how to hunt, how to plant and cultivate corn, what plants could be used for medicine and many other things.
Thanksgiving
Because of Squanto’s kindness the colonists had enough food to last them through the winter. They were healthy and had warm places to live. They decided to have a thanksgiving feast and they invited Squanto, another Indian that had accompanied Squanto called Samoset, and Massasoit – the leader of the Wampaonaugs. As custom demanded the whole tribe showed up and the colonists did not have enough provisions for all of them. Massasoit understood and told his men to get more food. They brought enough to feed everyone for three days.
There was a treaty made allowing the colonists to clear the forest where the old Pautuxet village had stood. Unfortunately more and more people came from England and overshadowed those that had known the Native American kindness first hand. These people were not dependent upon the Indians and forgot about the friendship. The colonists began to tell the Indians that their ideas and culture was wrong.
Truth is no one really knows if the Indians were invited at all, they could have just shown up. Another truth is that Massasoit’s tribe had been affected by disease brought by other Europeans and many had died. He knew the colonists had guns and cannons and thought that an alliance with them could be beneficial to his tribe. The Indians thought the colonists to be slightly disgusting because they had hairy faces and bodies.
There is still a Wampanoag tribe in New England with their ancestors the ones of Thanksgiving fame. There are only about 2000 members left and there is a reservation on Martha’s Vineyard.
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