GAIL DRAKE: An early case of human trafficking

“God sets the solitary in families.” — Psalm 68:6

A group of 20 adolescent boys were fishing on the shores of what is now Cape Cod, Mass. They were Patuxets, a small friendly Native American tribe that enjoyed teamwork and tranquility.

Into the harbor arrived a large wooden vessel — bigger than 10 canoes. It was one of the English ships that would travel nearby, drop anchor and trade furs, fish, knives and beads. The captain waved to the boys, inviting them to board the ship to trade. The boys swam to the ship and were waved into the ship’s hull.

Suddenly the deck door dropped, the sailors grabbed the boys and tied them up. Captain Thomas Hunt pulled anchor and set sail for Spain, carrying his load of dried cod and human cargo, including a young Indian child named Tisquantum. “Squanto” was a victim of human trafficking and his story is recounted by Gov. William Bradford in his journal, “Of Plymouth Plantation.”

The ship pulled into Malaga, Spain. The hostages were paraded onto a platform, and one by one, they were sold. Then a group of Catholic friars appeared and ransomed the remaining boys. They took the terrified teens to their abode to be “instructed in the Christian Faith; and so disappointed this unworthy fellow of his hopes of gaine.”

A few years later, Squanto “got away for England” and lived with “Master John Slanie,” a merchant and shipbuilder in London with its towers, bridges and buildings He learned the language and culture of England under the reign of King James.

In 1619, Tisquantum sailed to Newfoundland “with Captain Mason Governor there for the undertaking of that Plantation.” He met Thomas Dermer, an adventurer who had travelled with the infamous Capt. John Smith, and together they planned a voyage to New England. In 1620, their ship pulled into Cape Code Harbor. Squanto came ashore and ran to his home village. He was met with silence. Not one family member was there to greet him. He learned that the year prior, an epidemic disease had wiped out the entire village. He was the sole survivor.

Squanto went to live with the nearby Wampanoags, ruled by chief Massasoit. When Dermer returned to the village in June 1620, Dermer encountered “an invertebrate malice to the English” and that “Squanto cannot deny but they would have killed me … had he (Squanto) not entreated hard for me.”

A year later, his friend Samoset came to him with news: Squanto’s village space was now occupied by a group of English Separatists. Like Squanto, Samoset had been kidnapped and sold in England. On March 16, 1621, Samoset had “boldly came alone” into the settlement and talked to the colonists — in English. A few days later, Squanto went to meet them. He learned that the settlors had been imprisoned in England for their faith and came to America for religious freedom. That first winter, half of them had died.

Chief Massasoit and 60 warriors wanted to meet with the colonists. The parties met “with Drumme and Trumpet,” ate together, then negotiated a peace treaty, with Squanto translating and negotiating. The treaty was honored through the lifetime of Chief Massasoit.

Massosoit and his men left the next day, but Squanto remained at Plymouth. He developed a close relationship with William Bradford, who considered him “a special instrument sent of God for their good beyond their expectation.” Tisquantum went on to negotiate treaties with all the nearby tribes, creating a network of villages that stated they now saw themselves loyal to King James.

Squanto familiarized the settlors with their new environment. “He directed them how to set their corn, where to take fish, and to procure other commodities, and was also their pilot to bring them to unknown places for their profit, and never left them till he died.” Squanto “told them, except they got fish and set with it [corn seed] in these old grounds, it would come to nothing. … [W]e manured our ground with Herings or rather Shadds, which we have in great abundance. … Our corn did prove well.” Squanto also showed the Pilgrims how they could obtain furs and pelts, and fur-trading became an important means for the colonists to finance their way.

Bradford wrote in his journal of their first harvest celebration, but fellow settlor Winslow documented in more detail the first American Thanksgiving celebration. Bradford sent out four men fowling “so we might after a more special manner rejoice together after we had gathered the fruit of our labours.” He recorded that many Natives joined them including Massasoit and 90 of his men, who brought five deer and stayed three days. He noted that “we are so farre from want, that we often wish you partakers of our plentie.”

Tisquantum remained with the settlors until he “fell sick of Indian fever … and within a few days died there, desiring … that he might go to the Englishmen’s God in Heaven.” The seeds of kindness and education sown by Christian friars empowered a lonely Patuxet brave, a victim of child trafficking, to trust in God, overcome the scars of human evil, and make himself a part of a struggling settlement of Pilgrims. The choices he made impacted others for generations.