Squanto: A Native Odyssey

by Andrew Lipman Narrated by David Colacci

Overview

Taken to Europe as a slave, he found his way home and changed the course of American history



American schoolchildren have long learned about Squanto, the welcoming Native who made the First Thanksgiving possible, but his story goes deeper than the holiday legend. Born in the Wampanoag-speaking town of Patuxet in the late 1500s, Squanto was kidnapped in 1614 by an English captain, who took him to Spain. From there, Englishmen brought him to London and Newfoundland before sending him home in 1619, when Squanto discovered that most of Patuxet had died in an epidemic. A year later, the Mayflower colonists arrived at his home and renamed it Plymouth.



Prize-winning historian Andrew Lipman explores the mysteries that still surround Squanto: How did he escape bondage and return home? Why did he help the English after an Englishman enslaved him? Why did he threaten Plymouth's fragile peace with its neighbors? Was it true that he converted to Christianity on his deathbed? Drawing from a wide range of evidence and newly uncovered sources, Lipman reconstructs Squanto's upbringing, his transatlantic odyssey, his career as an interpreter, his surprising downfall, and his enigmatic death. The result is a fresh look at an epic life that ended right when many Americans think their story begins.

Editorial Reviews

From the Publisher

A balanced, thoughtful blend of biography and history.”—Kirkus Reviews

“Lipman masterfully reconstructs ‘Squanto’s world,’ revealing dynamic and complex Indigenous contours to the broader Atlantic. Through creative and careful readings of the sources, Lipman fills in the many gaps of Tisquantum’s life, revealing the tensions between the legend and reality of this pivotal historical figure.”—Joshua L. Reid, author of The Sea Is My Country

“Anyone educated in the United States knows Squanto, whose story is part of community ritual and grade school education. Andrew Lipman’s engaging and thoughtful book suggests new ways to understand him and his legacy.”—Carla Gardina Pestana, author of The World of Plymouth Plantation

“Teasing the most out of sparse sources, Andrew Lipman thoughtfully and imaginatively reconstructs the life and times of Squanto in a compelling journey through the overlapping Wampanoag and English colonial worlds.”—Colin G. Calloway, author of The Indian World of George Washington

“Engaging and witty yet thoughtful and respectful, Lipman narrates an intimate and expansive story of Squanto’s transatlantic odyssey from freedom to captivity to freedom again, traversing not just the Atlantic, but also the gulf between English and Native cultures. Delightfully readable, this book will appeal to all readers.”—Linford D. Fisher, Brown University

“A refreshing and imaginative biography narrating the remarkable life of the Wampanoag man known as Squanto, whom the Pilgrims needed to survive in the Dawnlands. In precisely rendered scenes revealing his mastery of the archives, Lipman shows that we need to understand Squanto if we are to grasp the real origins of New England.”—Peter C. Mancall, author of The Trials of Thomas Morton
 
“The definitive biography of an iconic figure in America’s colonial origin story and a superb introduction to the contact between Native America and Europe.”—David J. Silverman, author of This Land Is Their Land

Kirkus Reviews

2024-06-28
The story of the Native American who helped Plymouth's English settlers survive their first year in the New World.

Tisquantum, better known as Squanto, was the Wampanoag Indian who served as the interpreter and guide for colonists who arrived on theMayflower in 1621. American popular culture has preferred to render him as a simple “friend of the white man”; in this book, Barnard history professor Lipman restores his complexity. The author explores both the known and unknown elements of Squanto’s life to argue that he was a man motivated by “communal concernsand his personal ambition.” Lipman initially examines Tisquantum’s early years in Plymouth, known to Natives as Patuxet. In the absence of written records, he chooses an ethnographic approach, grounding his observations in “daily life, material culture, language, religion, social structure, and government” in Wampanoag society. Lipman then follows the adult Squanto, who was sold into the European slave trade, on his forced travels to Malagá, London, and Newfoundland. Though little is known of Tisquantum's time in exile, Lipman offers glimpses of captive life through the stories of other captured Natives. Lipman then reenvisions Squanto’s traumatic homecoming to a Patuxet ravaged by plague. Tisquantum navigated this new world using two historically documented skills: his linguistic fluency and ability to persuade, both of which had served him well during captivity. The author suggests that during this time, Squanto became deluded about his powers. His attempt to depose a Wampanoag leader named Ousamequin, "revealed his arrogant, conniving, and reckless side" and led to his downfall, followed by his death from what a white settler called “an Indean feavor.” Engaging and well researched, this book about the mysterious life of a Native American icon will appeal primarily to historians and those with an interest in early American culture.

A balanced, thoughtful blend of biography and history.

Product Details

BN ID:	2940192121269
Publisher:	Tantor Audio
Publication date:	09/17/2024
Edition description:	Unabridged