Squanto
Lately — because of the season — I have been reading about The First Thanksgiving (though that term is excessively wrong) and about that group of religious fanatics The Pilgrim Fathers.
I already knew most of what I read, but the one area I knew shockingly (at least to me) little was of Squanto. He was kidnapped by the British in 1608, taken to Britain, learned some English, and generally made a good impression. He was returned to his continent and, ultimately, his tribe in 1613. He spent roughly a year with them only to be kidnapped again in 1614 and sold into slavery. He finally made it back to his tribe again in 1619, to discover that they had all died of Bubonic Plague.
It is then amazing and astounding to think that he (now adopted by a different tribe) took it upon himself to help out the Pilgrims. I don’t know if most people would have done the same in his situation. As a result he ended up be not fully trusted by the Pilgrims or his adopted tribe. And in the end he died in 1622.
The final irony is that his true name is Tisquantum. The name Squanto was attributed to him though a case of mistaken identity (they all look alike, you know?).
He is probably the single most interesting person in that episode of history, and yet I never learned more than his name in all the history I took in school or college. His history is so amazing, his motivations so unclear. It calls out for a better treatment than it has gotten so far.
