How Does The Movie 'Appropriate Views Of Squanto'?

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This film was poorly put together as it had promise in the beginning but ultimately failed to portray the accurate views of Squanto. Squanto was one of the most important characters when New England was colonized. He was known by William Bradford as “a special instrument sent of God for their good beyond their expectation”. Like in the movie, Squanto did everything to benefit himself. Originally Squanto was captured by the Spanish and was later taken to England. In the movie he was taken to England right away. Many historians don’t know much about Squanto’s life in the early stages but he did die very young according to what they believe. In the movie it showed Squanto belonged to the Hawk Clan but in reality he belonged to the Patuxet tribe. …show more content…

He then went to Newfoundland with John Mason and returned back to what is known as Plymouth, Massachusetts where he learned that all of his people had died from plague. He then returned to Plymouth in 1621 where he stayed with the pilgrims as their interpreter. Squanto though, did have enemies and just like many other New England Indians, he was using the white man against them. He wanted to be a powerful man. Squanto was just a shortened version of his actual name which was Tisquantum. The way he was used as an interpreter along with a diplomat for the Europeans was a very important. Although, nobody knows when Squanto first made contact with the Spanish, there are different versions behind this. The first version is where Sir Ferdinando Gorges was said that he knew Squanto as early as 1605 and he stayed with him in his home in England (unlike the movie where he lived with monks). Captain John Smith was the first to actually have reliable information in concern with Squanto. In 1614, Smith wrote that a vessel commanded by Captain Thomas Hunt captured several natives in the Cape Cod and that lead to the capture of …show more content…

When Squanto returned to what is now modern-day Massachusetts, he learned that he was the only person of his tribe to survive. Learning that he was the last one he wanted to contribute instead of adding to the problem. Future events would lead to more Native Americans being slaughtered so he began to act as an interpreter and thus leading to joining the Pilgrims and guide them. Separatists came to Plymouth in December where they faced hostile conditions from the Native Americans. William Bradford said that the Native Americans were very unfriendly towards the pilgrims. It was tough during the time because news had spread of the deaths of the Patuxet and thus the Native Americans didn’t want anything to do with white man. The pilgrims wanted to negotiate a treaty so they basically sent Edward Winslow and Squanto with foods and gifts. The two sides greeted each other and a treaty was able to be formed by both sides. From there on the Pilgrims relied on Squanto heavily from then on and he frequently accompanied them during their travels. This helped the Pilgrims strengthen their position among the Native Americans. During one of their travels, Edward Winslow, Stephen Hopkins, and Squanto were sent to have good relations with Massasoit. Massasoit was a war chief of the Wampanoags. Winslow and Hopkins stayed for two days’ time but Squanto stayed for trade

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