<P> Tisquantum (/ tɪsˈkwɒntəm /; c. 1585 (± 10 years?)--late November 1622 O.S.), more commonly known by the diminutive variant Squanto (/ ˈskwɒntoʊ /), was a member of the Patuxet tribe best known for being an early liaison between the native populations in Southern New England and the Mayflower Pilgrims who made their settlement at the site of Squanto's former summer village . </P> <P> The Patuxet tribe lived on the western coast of Cape Cod Bay, where in 1614 Squanto was kidnapped by English explorer Thomas Hunt, who brought him to Spain where he was sold into slavery . Squanto escaped, eventually returning to North America in 1619 . He returned to his native village only to find that his tribe had been wiped out by an epidemic infection; Squanto was the last of the Patuxet . </P> <P> When the Mayflower landed in 1620, Squanto worked to broker peaceable relations between the Pilgrims and the local Pokanokets . He played a key role in the early meetings in March 1621, partly because he spoke English . He then lived with the Pilgrims for 20 months, acting as a translator, guide, and advisor . He introduced the settlers to the fur trade, and taught them how to sow and fertilize native crops, which proved vital since the seeds which the Pilgrims had brought from England largely failed . As food shortages increased, Plymouth Colony Governor William Bradford relied on Squanto to pilot a ship of settlers on a trading expedition around Cape Cod and through dangerous shoals . During that voyage, Squanto contracted what Bradford called an "Indian fever ." Bradford stayed with him for several days until he died, which Bradford described as a "great loss ." </P> <P> Considerable mythology and legend has grown up around Squanto over time, largely because of early praise by Bradford and owing to the central role that the Thanksgiving festival of 1621 plays in American folk history . Squanto was less the "noble savage" that later myth portrayed him and more a practical advisor and diplomat . </P>

Indian who taught the pilgrims how to fish and plant crops