About 1590 or so, a young man was born into the Patuxet tribe. This tribe was part of the larger Wampanoag confederation of tribes on New England. His place of birth would be somewhere near present day Plymouth Massachusetts. He was given the name Tisquantum, although later, upon the arrival of the English Settlers, he was always referred to as Squanto.

The Patuxet Indians ate berries, beans, corn, and fish. They also hunted animals in the forest. When Squanto was about 14, he saw the tall sails of the white man's ship. They were English traders, led by Captain Weymouth. The captain told the natives, "We come in peace." The Indians traded their furs for knives, combs, mirrors, bracelets, and rings with these white men.

The stories say that Weymouth kidnapped Squanto and brought him to England, where he lived for 10 years, learning English and teaching the Native American tongue to sea Captains who were heading for North America. Squanto always felt lonely and out of place during his time in England.

In 1614, Squanto was brought back to America, to assist Captain John Smith, in mapping of the New England coast. When Smith returned to England, he turned Squanto over to his replacement, Captain Thomas Hunt, to trade with the Indians. Once Smith was gone Hunt promptly tricked twenty Nausets and seven Patuxets into coming on board his ship to trade--and then kidnapped them.

When Hunt sailed to Spain to sell them as slaves, some local Friars, discovered what was happening and took the remaining Indians from Hunt in order to instruct them in the Christian faith. Squanto lived with these Friars until 1618 when a Captain Dermer hired him to return to America and guide him as he explored and mapped the natural resources along the New England Coast. There was a fear that the Indians along the coast would be angry because the English kidnapped members of their tribe and sold them into slavery. Dermer wanted someone along who knew the natives and he promised Squanto he would allow him to return to his home in Patuxet at the end of the expedition.

When they arrived off the coast of New England in 1619, they found out that the entire Patuxet tribe had been wiped out in a plague two years earlier. Squanto moved in with a neighboring tribe at Pokanoket. Then, at Cape Cod, Dermer was taken hostage by the Nauset tribe. Squanto heard about it, came to his friend's aid, and negotiated his release.

In November 1620, the Pilgrims arrived and started their Plymouth colony. Squanto was living alone in the forest and a friend from the Massasoit tribe named Samoset came and told him a village called Plymouth was built by people from England. The village was built on the very site of the deserted village left by Squanto's (now dead) Patuxet tribe.

Squanto and Samoset journeyed to the village and since Squanto spoke English, he was welcomed by the pilgrim leaders William Bradford, John Carver, and Miles Standish. Squanto agreed to stay with the colony and he helped negotiate treaties with the colony’s Indian neighbors.

Squanto helped the Pilgrims grow crops, hunt, and fish for food. He was instrumental in helping the colony survive its first winter in America. Amongst the crops that Squanto taught the colonists to grow was corn.

Corn or maize is a domesticated plant of the Americas. Along with many other indigenous plants like beans, squash, melons, tobacco, and roots such as Jerusalem artichoke, European colonists in America quickly adopted maize agriculture from Native Americans. Crops developed by Native Americans quickly spread to other parts of the world as well. Corn was a very important crop for the people of the northeast woodlands. It was the main food and was eaten at every meal.

So our object this week before Thanksgiving is corn. Specifically Indian Corn. Now cobs of corn were not always the nice yellow kernels that we are used to. There were many varieties of Indian corn -- white, blue, yellow and red. Your job is to make an ear of Indian corn!

Debbie	Hillie	Kate

Mary Lou	Hillie's husband