<P> Squanto lived with the colonists and acted as a middleman between the Pilgrims and Massasoit, the Wampanoag sachem . For the Wampanoag, the ten years before the arrival of the Pilgrims was the worst time in their history . They were attacked from the north by Mi'kmaq warriors who took over the coast after their victory over the Penobscot in the Tarrantine War (1607--1615). At the same time, the Pequot came from the west, and occupied portions of eastern Connecticut . </P> <P> Additionally, between 1616 and 1619, the Wampanoag suffered from an epidemic or series of epidemics, long thought to be smallpox introduced by contact with Europeans . Researchers published a study in 2010 suggesting that the epidemic was leptospirosis, or 7 - day fever . The groups most devastated by the illness were those who had traded heavily with the French or were allied with those who did, leading to speculation that the disease was a "virgin soil" epidemic, to which Europeans had some immunity but for which they were able to act as carriers . Alfred Crosby, a medical historian, has suggested that among the Massachusett and mainland Pokanoket, the population losses were as high as ninety percent . Their societies were devastated . </P> <P> The losses resulted in a complete restructuring of Wampanoag political systems, with many sachems gathering together to form new alliances . For example, the Pokanoket sachem Massasoit and ten followers, representing the remainder of the band, were forced to submit to the Narragansett--their inland rivals . They agreed to give up valuable territory at the head of Narragansett Bay . The Narragansett, an isolated inland group, had little contact with early European traders and did not suffer as many fatalities as had the Wampanoag . As a result, their power in the region increased greatly in the mid-seventeenth century . Following Narragansett demands that the weakened Wampanoag pay them tribute, Massasoit looked to the English to help his people fight the oppression by the Narragansett . </P> <P> In March 1621 Massasoit visited Plymouth, accompanied by Squanto . He signed an alliance that gave the English permission to take about 12,000 acres (49 km) of land for Plymouth Plantation . Historians believe it is doubtful that Massasoit understood the differences between land ownership in the European sense, compared with the native people's communal manner of using the land . At the time, this was not particularly significant, because so many of Massasoit's people had died that their traditional lands were significantly depopulated . </P>

Who was the chief of the wampanoag tribe that helped the plymouth citizens