A Translator Responsible for Saving the Pilgrims
Continued from Part 1: Squanto’s practical knowledge was the difference between life and death for the Pilgrims. He taught the settlers to grow corn. He taught them where to fish. He showed them around to all the cool, locals-only hunting and foraging spots. And, most importantly, he translated for them.
Squanto was a Patuxet from what is now known as Massachusetts and was then known as the place where the Massachusett, among other tribes, lived. He learned English when he was kidnapped by explorers as a souvenir (look, Ma, savages!) and dragged away to Spain. He later made his way to England, where he picked up the language quite well before finally returning to America. On his return, sadly he found his tribe completely wiped out by some terrible disease, most likely brought over by, you know who, (yep, those guys with the boats).
Squanto, the very last of the Patuxet, threw in his lot with the pilgrims, and if you are a descendant of anyone who ever came to Plymouth on a ship, and if you woke up this morning wondering who you could thank for your existence today, Squanto would be a decent starting point (after your mother, of course).
Squanto, the very last of the Patuxet, threw in his lot with the pilgrims, and if you are a descendant of anyone who ever came to Plymouth on a ship, and if you woke up this morning wondering who you could thank for your existence today, Squanto would be a decent starting point (after your mother, of course).
What a difference a translator makes
Until Squanto came along, the pilgrims’ dealings with the Wampanoags was mainly defensive, the Indians stealing important things from the pilgrims while the pilgrims were unable to do anything about it but make unpleasant faces. With Squanto’s translation skills, this relationship made a full turn around. Not only did the Wampanoags return the stuff they stole, they even presented gifts of things like seed corn, thanks to which the pilgrims were able to ward off starvation.
This lifelong friendship turned out to be very fruitful to the pilgrims, in part because the Wampanoags taught these new kids on the block a lot about life in the area, and in part because the Wampanoags didn’t kill them all. For all their gunpowder, Governor Carver and his friends would hardly have lasted very long if a fierce tribal war chief came blazing in one day looking for blood (especially not given that inconvenient bit where most of them were already dead because of the winter). Having the Wampanoags on their side meant not only that they were safe from the Wampanoags, but that they had friends on their side should any other hostile tribes come looking for a fight.
This lifelong friendship turned out to be very fruitful to the pilgrims, in part because the Wampanoags taught these new kids on the block a lot about life in the area, and in part because the Wampanoags didn’t kill them all. For all their gunpowder, Governor Carver and his friends would hardly have lasted very long if a fierce tribal war chief came blazing in one day looking for blood (especially not given that inconvenient bit where most of them were already dead because of the winter). Having the Wampanoags on their side meant not only that they were safe from the Wampanoags, but that they had friends on their side should any other hostile tribes come looking for a fight.
In short, it would be no great leap to speculate that in the absence of decent translation services, Plymouth would have been lost. Anyone who doesn’t believe it can just ask Captain Thomas Dermer, the Englishman who first brought Squanto back to New England. When he let Squanto leave the expedition to find out what happened to his tribe, Dermer himself was left without a translator. This landed him exactly where you might expect – hands bound in a native village with an exorbitant price set for his safe return. He eventually escaped with his life (shortly before dying anyway), but the moral of the story is clear: if you wanted to survive in 17th century New England, keep Squanto with you at all times!
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