The simplest editorial choice changes the entire meaning of Tisquantum’s biography: begin before Plymouth.

If the story opens in 1621, he appears as a solution to the colonists’ problems.

If it opens in Patuxet before 1614, he appears as a person with a homeland, a community, and a life that existed independently of English settlement.

That shift matters because it restores ownership of the narrative.

Plymouth becomes one chapter in Tisquantum’s life rather than the reason his life matters.

The kidnapping explains the English language.

The Atlantic years explain his unusual knowledge.

The epidemic explains the devastation waiting when he returned.

Only then does his work with the colonists make full sense.

That sequence also prevents the familiar story from turning captivity into providence.