c. 1580

Pokanoket, near present-day Bristol, Rhode Island

1661

Rhode Island

Wampanoag tribal leader

Portrait: Massasoit. Reproduced by permission of The Library of Congress.

" . . . not only the greatest King amongst them called Massasoit, but also all the Princes and people round about us, have either made suit unto us, or been glad of any occasion to make peace with us. . . . "

Plymouth Colony governor William Bradford.

Massasoit was a Native American leader who worked to maintain friendly relations with English settlers in the early seventeenth century. He is also believed to have taken part in what has become known as the first Thanksgiving. While it is true that Massasoit strove for good relations with the Europeans, his story is more complicated than schoolbooks have led generations of Americans to believe. Massasoit maintained his treaty with the settlers even after a majority of Native Americans began to resist the colonists' expansion. As...