by Nathan Hendrick
One spring day in March, 1621, three months after the pilgrims had found Plymouth, a tall, lanky Native man walked into the plantation.
"Greetings, Englishmen! Welcome!" said the man in ragged English.
The Pilgrim boys and girls were amazed! They had never seen a Native person up close before. Now there was one standing in the middle of the village!
. "G-greetings, savage," stuttered William Bradford. The so-called "savage" looked taken aback. Then he answered.
"I want to help you," he said. "I know you have trouble."
"Where did you learn English?" one of the men inquired rather suspiciously.
"From sailors and fishermen," said the man patiently. "But that is not the point. My name is Samoset. I help you with hunting and planting food for the day, then I go tell nearby tribe about you. They come help."
Well, that seemed good to the Pilgrims, so they agreed. Samoset was an Abnaki, a tribe that lived in south-east Maine! He was passing through on his way to visit his friend Chief Massassoit, of the Wampanoag people.
That day they began to learn to fish efficiently, to grow things with fertilizer (dead fish), and to hunt quietly. Then, when the bright stars twinkled in the sky like flowers, and the night sky was a brilliant dark blue, Samoset left to tell the nearby tribe about the Pilgrims, and left them to a peaceful slumber.
