On This Day March, 16 1621: In 1621 Samoset, an Abenaki, became the first Native American to make contact with the English Pilgrims of Plymouth Colony in present-day Plymouth, Massachusetts. He is reported to have said, Welcome, Englishmen! My name is Samoset. On March 16, 1621, the settlers were more than surprised when Samoset strolled straight through the middle of the encampment at Plymouth Colony and greeted them in English, which he had begun to learn from an earlier group of Englishmen who arrived in what is now Maine. Samoset was a sagamore (subordinate chief) of his tribe and was visiting Chief Massasoit. He had learned his broken English from the English fishermen that came to fish off Monhegan Island in Maine. After spending the night with the Pilgrims, he came back two days later with Squanto, who spoke much better English than Samoset. This amazing fact demonstrates the intellectual prowess of the Native people of the Americas; a fact that was quickly denied by the colonists as they soon categorized the Native people as “primitive” in order to deny them any rights to their land and resources.
Posted on: Sun, 16 Mar 2014 13:22:53 +0000
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