Squanto A Native Odyssey
Squanto: A Native Odyssey by Andrew Lipman, published by Yale University Press on September 17, 2024, spans 264 pages in English. This book delves into the life of Squanto, a Native American from the Wampanoag-speaking town of Patuxet, whose experiences extend far beyond the traditional narratives surrounding the First Thanksgiving. Lipman recounts how Squanto was kidnapped in 1614 and taken to Europe, ultimately returning home in 1619 to find his community devastated by an epidemic.
Readers will find a thorough exploration of Squanto’s life, including his escape from bondage, his interactions with English settlers, and the complexities of his role as an interpreter during a tumultuous period in American history. Lipman addresses pivotal questions about Squanto’s motivations and actions, drawing from a variety of sources to reconstruct his upbringing and the events that shaped his legacy. This biography offers insights into Indigenous history and the colonial period, providing a nuanced perspective on a figure often simplified in American folklore.
Official synopsis Publisher
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.
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