squanto's journey the story of the first thanksgiving

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Squanto's Journey: The Story of the First Thanksgiving Paperback – Picture Book, September 1, 2007

Purchase options and add-ons.

• Reading age 4 - 7 years
• Print length 32 pages
• Language English
• Grade level Preschool - 3
• Lexile measure 750L
• Dimensions 11 x 0.1 x 9 inches
• Publisher Clarion Books
• Publication date September 1, 2007
• ISBN-10 0152060448
• ISBN-13 978-0152060442
• See all details

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Editorial Reviews

"Told with respect and dignity."-- The Horn Book "History from the Native American viewpoint."-- Booklist —

About the Author

JOSEPH BRUCHAC is a poet, storyteller, and author of more than sixty books for children and adults who has received many literary honors, including the American Book Award and the PEN Syndicated Fiction Award. He is of Abenaki and Slovak heritage, and lives in Greenfield Center, New York.

Product details

• Publisher ‏ : ‎ Clarion Books; First Edition (September 1, 2007)
• Language ‏ : ‎ English
• Paperback ‏ : ‎ 32 pages
• ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0152060448
• ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0152060442
• Reading age ‏ : ‎ 4 - 7 years
• Lexile measure ‏ : ‎ 750L
• Grade level ‏ : ‎ Preschool - 3
• Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 6 ounces
• Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 11 x 0.1 x 9 inches
• #50 in Children's Colonial American Historical Fiction
• #53 in Children's Thanksgiving Books (Books)
• #89 in Children's Native American Books

About the author

Joseph bruchac.

Joseph Bruchac is a highly acclaimed Abenaki children's book author, poet, novelist and storyteller, as well as a scholar of Native American culture. Coauthor with Michael Caduto of the bestselling Keepers of the Earth series, Bruchac's poems, articles and stories have appeared in over 500 publications, from Akwesasne Notes and American Poetry Review to National Geographic and Parabola. He has authored more than 50 books for adults and children. For more information about Joseph, please visit his website www.josephbruchac.com.

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Squanto's Journey: The Story of the First Thanksgiving

Joseph bruchac , greg shed  ( illustrator ).

32 pages, Hardcover

First published September 15, 2000

About the author

Joseph Bruchac

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Who Was Squanto, and What Was His Role in the First Thanksgiving?

By: Tony Tekaroniake Evans

Published: November 21, 2022

For generations, the dominant cultural narrative of America’s Thanksgiving holiday has told how a Native American man named Squanto showed the Pilgrims how to get food after they arrived on the Mayflower in Massachusetts in 1620. Having fled their native England, the new émigrés endured hardship and privation in both their journey and their adjustment to the new land. Those who survived in the early settlement are said to have gathered with the Native people in a feast of gratitude, establishing the time-honored tradition of having a “Thanksgiving” dinner on the fourth Thursday of November.

The historical details of this somewhat mythologized story are far more complicated—as was the life of Squanto, whose actual name was Tisquantum. He and his Indigenous relatives would have been quite familiar with the tradition of “thanksgiving” because it was, and still is, an essential aspect of their regular spiritual practices, one that predates by many generations the American holiday of Thanksgiving.

A member of the Patuxet Tribe of the Wampanoags, Tisquantum was likely born around 1580. When he encountered the Plymouth Colony settlers, he spoke English, having lived five years in Europe, including time at the home of a London merchant. He proved indispensable to the English settlers at Plymouth, but in the end was reviled by some of his own people for his role in brokering a treaty that undermined tribal sovereignty.

But without Tisquantum to interpret and guide them to food sources, the Plymouth Colony Pilgrims may never have survived.

“His is such a seminal backstory to Plimoth [historic spelling] Colony that the lack of historical reference to it is conspicuous,” writes Paula Peters, a journalist and member of the Mashpee Wampanoag, in an essay about Tisquantum, the Wampanoag and the Pilgrims for the Colonial Society of Massachusetts. His name remains ubiquitous in Thanksgiving stories, but little is known of his life, family and tribulations prior to encountering the Plymouth Colony settlers.

Tisquantum Spoke English After Being Kidnapped to Europe 

The Wampanoag, whose name means “People of the First Light,” and their ancestors had lived in Patuxet for at least 10,000 years. They hunted, fished and farmed corn, beans and squash when encountered for the first time by Europeans. Their non-hierarchical system of governance and nature-based spirituality bewildered the new settlers. 

By 1619, the Wampanoag survived a devastating plague brought by European explorers called the Great Dying . The disease killed about two-thirds of their 70,000 people who had been living in 69 villages along what is now the southern Massachusetts coast.

So sudden and overwhelming was the sickness, that when the Mayflower landed, its passengers had to stride across the bleached bones of plague victims, writes Peters. Some of the colonists described the Great Dying as a providential act of God that made way for a flourishing of their Puritan faith.

Tisquantum escaped this scourge because, years earlier, he had been lured, along with about two dozen other Wampanoag, onto a British ship bound for a slave market in Spain, according to James Seelye Jr and Shawn Selby, historians at Kent State University and authors of Shaping North America: From Exploration to the American Revolution. He escaped with the help of Catholic Friars and made his way to London, where he lived with John Slaney, treasurer of the Newfoundland Company, which had colonized Cuper’s Cove in Newfoundland in 1610. Tisquantum likely used this connection to depart England for home, working on a ship for Captain John Mason, the Newfoundland Colony’s governor. He then found passage on another ship that brought him south, where he eventually made his way back to Patuxet.

Tisquantum was among 2 to 5.5 million Indigenous people enslaved in the Americas between 1492 and 1880, many of whom were sent to work in the Caribbean. According to Wampanoag historian Linda Jeffers Coombs, Tisquantum was one of only two tribal members who found his way back home from the slave ship that landed in Spain.

Pilgrims Likely Didn't Invite Native People to Their First Harvest Thanksgiving

On his return, Tisquantum was distraught to find his people decimated by plague. When he encountered the Mayflower's ragged survivors, he was an orphan himself. But he was uniquely poised to help them survive, and willing to help them form a vital alliance with his Wampanoag leader, named Ousamequin.

Tisquantum favored the English enough to teach them how to grow corn, and where and how to fish and hunt beaver. He also gained protection from the English at times from his own people. The treaty he helped negotiate between his people and the English allowed the Wampanoag to gain a powerful ally against their enemy, the Narragansett. But it also empowered the English with the dominant rule of law, while restricting the Wampanoag’s use and display of weapons at meetings. This treaty led to subjugation, and Tisquantum died while allied with the English—perhaps even poisoned by his own people in late 1622, writes historian Nathaniel Philbrick in his book Mayflower: A Story of Courage, Community and War .

It’s likely the Pilgrims didn’t actually invite the Wampanoag to the first harvest “Thanksgiving” memorialized in the now-popular American holiday. In fact, the tense days-long feast convened to put at ease some 90 Wampanoag warriors who had arrived at Plymouth fully armed in response to a volley of celebratory gunfire they had heard shot by the colonists.

Historical sources state that, once they realized the gunfire wasn’t intended as hostile, the Wampanoags killed five deer and brought them to Plymouth as their contribution to what has been described as a harvest feast, and perhaps a celebration of survival for making it through their second winter. “If you’re getting ready to eat, we will bring food for you. That’s who we are as people,” says Anita Peters, known as Mother Bear, a Mashpee Wampanoag tribal member. “But that feast was never repeated, and that should tell you something.”

Nakai Clearwater Northup, museum educator at Mashantucket Pequot Museum and Research Center, says the Thanksgiving holiday likely conflates several feasts held during the time period, including the Pilgrims’ celebration of their victory in the Mystic Massacre of 1637, in which 600 Pequots lost their lives in about an hour.

“This was the primary tragic moment in our history,” Northup said. “It laid the foundation for colonialism, and the first reservation was created right here in Connecticut. This laid the blueprint for the rest of our Native relatives for generations to come.”

Indigenous religions—which have long included the ubiquitous ceremonies of giving thanks for many food sources throughout the year—would be suppressed by the dominant culture of Christianity. Yet the spiritual practices of reciprocity and thanksgiving for the gifts of the earth, survive among the Wampanoag and many other Indigenous nations to this day.

“When I was young, we were taught by our grandparents and great grandparents to believe that the purpose of life is to be in a state of thanksgiving every day,” says Mother Bear.

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Squanto's journey : the story of the first Thanksgiving

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Squanto and the First Thanksgiving

The day I had longed for for so many moons was finally here. I was almost home! I stood on the bow of the ship watching as the shoreline came into view. My heart pounded with anticipation! I could almost hear the shouting, drumming, and dancing, and taste the great feast my family would serve to welcome me home. I couldn't wait to see their precious faces and tell them about my second kidnapping five years ago in 1614.

Squanto is Kidnapped

You see, my troubles began in 1605 when I was just a young teenager, living in what later became known as Massachusetts. I was kidnapped and taken to England, where I learned to speak English and taught the white man about our land in America. After nine long years, Captain John Smith brought me home. However, only days later, I was kidnapped a second time.

An evil ship commander, Captain Hunt, tricked me and 26 other Indians who had gone onto his ship to trade with him. He chained us in the bottom of the boat and took us across the ocean and sold us as slaves. But God was able to use Captain Hunt's evil for (my) good. A good man, a monk, bought me and took me to Spain.

He told me about the new god-man named Jesus. Despite the monk's kindness, I still longed to be with my people, the Patuxet tribe.

The compassionate monks sensed my heartache and helped get me back to England, where I found passage on a ship to North America. When we stopped in Maine, I met Samoset, a Native American like myself. His Indian clothes and moccasins made me even more homesick. I greeted him with a raised hand to show friendship. "I am Tisquantum," I said. "The English call me Squanto. I am returning to the Patuxet tribe, no longer a slave." I was glad for Samoset's friendship in the weeks to come.

Squanto Returns Home

At last, our ship pulled into the harbor. I slid down the rope over the side of the ship and into the waiting canoe. The land of my childhood looked deserted, but I thought I knew why.

They probably saw this English boat coming and hid in the woods. I'll call my family. They will answer.

All the familiar places were still there. I ran into the woods calling my father and mother, anticipating a joyful reunion.

I called the familiar Indian whistle, the one that sounded like a frightened bird.

Still there was silence.

My heart began to thump. I raced through my land, searching wildly for my tribe.

Samoset's birdcall beckoned me to him. I found him squatting over something in a clearing. I gasped at what I saw there. Human bones and skulls were scattered on the ground.

Samoset got up and walked away, disappearing into the woods. I searched until sunset, finding more bones, a pair of moccasins, and a few arrowheads.

Finally Samoset returned with the worst news. The chiefs of the next village had told him of the Great Plague of 1616. The entire Patuxet tribe had died in the plague. There hadn't even been time to honor the dead with a proper burial.

My stomach contracted into a tight ball of pain and my chest heaved as I stumbled into the darkness. I fell to my knees as I realized I was the only one of my family still alive.

Why? Why was I even born? To help the English? To break my mother's heart? Does the God of the English care about the Indian?

A New Purpose for Squanto

For weeks I wandered the land of my childhood, sad and alone. Finally, I joined the Wampanoag tribe. Kind chief Massasoit welcomed me, but it didn't help. No place felt like home without my family.

"Squanto, have you heard?" called Samoset one day. "The English have come again and have settled in the land of the Patuxet. They are peaceful but barely surviving. They need an interpreter. Do you want to go meet them?"

Are Altar Calls Biblical?

I wasn't sure I could trust them, but I went along. They sure were surprised to find that we spoke English! Before we left, Governor John Carver asked me to stay with his people and interpret for him whenever he wanted to talk to "King Massasoit," as he called our chief. I agreed to stay. The pilgrims were hungry and had no idea how to survive in our great land. For the first time in years, I felt like I belonged. Could it be that God's purpose for my life was now unfolding?

I smiled at the wonder on their faces when I returned from the river one evening with my arms full of eels. At sunset, we cooked them over an open fire. The boys couldn't wait to try catching their own fat, juicy eels the next day.

We searched the edge of the river for a good shallow place and I stepped into the cool water, squishing mud between my toes. Stomping left and then right brought the first eel to the surface. As his head poked through, I plunged my hands into the water, aiming for his belly. Seconds later, I pulled him squirming out of the water.

"Hurray!" shouted the boys, eager to take a turn. That evening every boy had at least two eels to bring home to his family.

"Squanto, I can't thank you enough for showing the boys how to catch eels," said Governor Carver as we ate supper together. "What other food can we find here?"

"April is corn-planting month," I replied. "You must wait until the bud of the white oak has reached the size of a mouse's ear before you plant corn. Then you'll have enough to last you through next winter."

Governor Carver leaned forward, a gleam in his eye. "You know how to plant enough food to last a whole winter? Maybe our people won't starve this year thanks to you, Squanto."

Could this be why I was born? Finally, I had a purpose in life. Finally, God had shown me where I belonged.

Governor Carver passed away that year and didn't get to see the corn growing taller than the men. The new governor, William Bradford, was so pleased with the food supply in the fall of 1621 that he invited Chief Massasoit and the Wampanoags to a great feast. Bradford declared it "a day of public Thanksgiving ." It started with prayer and lasted three whole days.

As we ate and played games, I thought about my new life. My family had died, but the Pilgrims were my family now. The Pilgrims and their God, Jesus, adopted me--and I adopted them, too!

• Despite all his negative encounters with various English explorers, Squanto was able to trust and even help the pilgrims. How do you think he was able to get past his hurt feelings to do something positive?
• Squanto's story is similar to the story of Joseph in the Bible. Both were taken from their family and sold as slaves. Both used their experiences to help others. How are their stories similar and how are they different?
• Do you think the pilgrims would have survived if Squanto had not befriended them? Why or why not?
• What types of things do you think the Indians and the pilgrims were thankful for on that first Thanksgiving ?

Suggested reading: Squanto and the Miracle of Thanksgiving by Eric Metaxas (Tommy Nelson Publishers)

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Read Squanto's story of the first thanksgiving and of his life with the pilgrims. Discover Squanto's amazing historical journey and significance!

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Squanto's Journey: The Story of the First Thanksgiving Hardcover – Sept. 15 2000

Purchase options and add-ons.

• Reading age 4 - 7 years
• Print length 32 pages
• Language English
• Grade level Preschool - 3
• Dimensions 28 x 0.9 x 23.5 cm
• Publisher HMH Books for Young Readers
• Publication date Sept. 15 2000
• ISBN-10 0152018174
• ISBN-13 978-0152018177
• See all details

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From amazon.

Throughout this moving tale, Squanto's belief that "these men can share our land as friends" poignantly shines through. Greg Shed's gouache illustrations capture the warmth and dignity of Squanto and his friends. Young readers will be fascinated by this lesser-known perspective on the Thanksgiving tradition that remains strong today. (Ages 6 to 10) --Emilie Coulter

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• Publisher ‏ : ‎ HMH Books for Young Readers; 1st edition (Sept. 15 2000)
• Language ‏ : ‎ English
• Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 32 pages
• ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0152018174
• ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0152018177
• Item weight ‏ : ‎ 408 g
• Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 28 x 0.9 x 23.5 cm
• #11,093 in Exploring North America for Children
• #11,854 in Historical Fiction for Children (Books)
• #13,747 in Biographies for Children (Books)

About the author

Joseph bruchac.

Joseph Bruchac is a highly acclaimed Abenaki children's book author, poet, novelist and storyteller, as well as a scholar of Native American culture. Coauthor with Michael Caduto of the bestselling Keepers of the Earth series, Bruchac's poems, articles and stories have appeared in over 500 publications, from Akwesasne Notes and American Poetry Review to National Geographic and Parabola. He has authored more than 50 books for adults and children. For more information about Joseph, please visit his website www.josephbruchac.com.

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Squanto's Journey: The Story of the First Thanksgiving

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In 1620 an English ship called the Mayflower landed on the shores inhabited by the Pokanoket, and it was Squanto who welcomed the newcomers and taught them how to survive. When a good harvest was gathered, the people feasted together–a tradition that continues almost four hundred years later.

What Kind of Book is .css-1msjh1x{font-style:italic;} Squanto's Journey: The Story of the First Thanksgiving

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The Creatives Behind the Book

As a writer and storyteller, Joseph Bruchac often draws on his Native American (Abenaki) ancestry. Joseph is the author of over 130 books for young readers and adults including Code Talker: A Novel About the Navajo Marines of World War Two. He lives in New York.

Greg Shed is the illustrator of many children’s books for children including Squanto’s Journey, by Joseph Bruchac, and Dandelions by Eve Bunting. He lives in San Diego, California.

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SQUANTO’S JOURNEY

The story of the first thanksgiving.

by Joseph Bruchac & illustrated by Greg Shed ‧ RELEASE DATE: Oct. 1, 2000

Does every child need a book on every subject in which the facts are set within a fictional frame? Young children and unwary adults, too, may be confused by what is fiction and what is fact, despite Bruchac’s excellent historical note (which is well beyond the textual level of the main story). The note is meant for the adult, but the attractive book will catch the young reader with its generous, full, facing-page gouaches, albeit somewhat static in its autumnal colors. The paintings depict the characters portrayed in a text that sketches the life of Squanto (“Tisquantum” before his capture from the Virginia region and his kidnap to Europe). Upon his return to the New World, he landed in a new colony that was to become New England. Bruchac lets Squanto tell his story and the story of the first Thanksgiving in the New World as well as his interactions with the Pilgrims. Important details about what people wore (and didn’t wear) and what was eaten (and what wasn’t) abound. The story is eminently readable, thanks to a clear, widely leaded typeface, but if the notes and glossary are not consulted, confusion about names, tribes, and geography will remain. A map of Squanto’s travels and the homelands of the native groups would be of enormous assistance, as would a pronouncing glossary since some of the terms may be difficult for young—and older—readers. Nonetheless, every teacher and librarian who works with school-age children will want to purchase this less-than-perfect book because it offers two important topics—Native Americans and the first Thanksgiving in the New World—from a noteworthy storyteller. (Fiction. 6-9)

Pub Date: Oct. 1, 2000

ISBN: 0-15-201817-4

Page Count: 32

Publisher: N/A

Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 2000

CHILDREN'S HISTORICAL FICTION | CHILDREN'S HOLIDAYS & CELEBRATIONS

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Innocuous adventuring on the smallest of scales.

The Mouse and the Motorcycle (1965) upgrades to The Mice and the Rolls-Royce .

In Windsor Castle there sits a “dollhouse like no other,” replete with working plumbing, electricity, and even a full library of real, tiny books. Called Queen Mary’s Dollhouse, it also plays host to the Whiskers family, a clan of mice that has maintained the house for generations. Henry Whiskers and his cousin Jeremy get up to the usual high jinks young mice get up to, but when Henry’s little sister Isabel goes missing at the same time that the humans decide to clean the house up, the usually bookish big brother goes on the adventure of his life. Now Henry is driving cars, avoiding cats, escaping rats, and all before the upcoming mouse Masquerade. Like an extended version of Beatrix Potter’s The Tale of Two Bad Mice (1904), Priebe keeps this short chapter book constantly moving, with Duncan’s peppy art a cute capper. Oddly, the dollhouse itself plays only the smallest of roles in this story, and no factual information on the real Queen Mary’s Dolls’ House is included at the tale’s end (an opportunity lost).

Pub Date: Jan. 3, 2017

ISBN: 978-1-4814-6575-5

Page Count: 144

Publisher: Aladdin

Review Posted Online: Sept. 18, 2016

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 2016

CHILDREN'S ACTION & ADVENTURE FICTION | CHILDREN'S ANIMALS | CHILDREN'S HISTORICAL FICTION

MONSTER MATH

by Anne Miranda & illustrated by Anne Miranda ‧ RELEASE DATE: Aug. 1, 1999

Miranda’s book counts the monsters gathering at a birthday party, while a simple rhyming text keeps the tally and surveys the action: “Seven starved monsters are licking the dishes./Eight blow out candles and make birthday wishes.” The counting proceeds to ten, then by tens to fifty, then gradually returns to one, which makes the monster’s mother, a purple pin-headed octopus, very happy. The book is surprisingly effective due to Powell’s artwork; the color has texture and density, as if it were poured onto the page, but the real attention-getter is the singularity of every monster attendee. They are highly individual and, therefore, eminently countable. As the numbers start crawling upward, it is both fun and a challenge to try to recognize monsters who have appeared in previous pages, or to attempt to stay focused when counting the swirling or bunched creatures. The story has glints of humor, and in combination with the illustrations is a grand addition to the counting shelf. (Picture book. 3-8)

Pub Date: Aug. 1, 1999

ISBN: 0-15-201835-2

Publisher: Harcourt

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 1999

CHILDREN'S CONCEPTS | CHILDREN'S HOLIDAYS & CELEBRATIONS | CHILDREN'S SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY

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Squanto’s Journey: The Story of the First Thanksgiving by Joseph Bruchac

Written from the perspective of Squanto, this retells much of his story from being captured and brought to Spain to returning to America and be held captive by another tribe. It also tells of how he became friends with the Pilgrim settlers and the first Thanksgiving.

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• When Squanto talks about “The Creator”, who is he really talking about?
• Why is it important to tell all people about Jesus, even if they believe in a different god?
• Even though Squanto’s story is difficult, how did God use it for his glory?

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Squanto’s Journey: The Story of the First Thanksgiving

• By Mijha Godfrey
• In Books , Diversity
• Posted on November 16, 2018 November 19, 2018
• Leave a Comment on Squanto’s Journey: The Story of the First Thanksgiving

Squanto’s Journey: The Story of the First Thanksgiving by Joseph Bruchac and illustrated by Greg Shed tells the incredible tale of the life of Tisquantum (Squanto).  He was born and raised to be a leader of his people, the Patuxet, but was kidnapped and held as a slave to both European and Native people. He traveled to Europe and back to North America where he became a translator and ambassador, representing a group of Native tribes to the English settlers.

Squanto taught the English hunting and planting skills to help them survive on the land they now shared. The book culminates in that first thanksgiving feast to celebrate the bountiful harvest of the prior year. Because the book ends during the feast, it concludes on a hopeful note that might be easier for young children to digest. The illustrations in this book are beautiful and fluid. Like the written words, the pictures show all of the characters, and the land they loved, in their best light.

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• American Indians
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