The problem began when he appears to have used that same position to create uncertainty for his own advantage.

The interpreter who could stabilize the alliance could also destabilize it.

That dual possibility made Tisquantum powerful in a way the simplified Thanksgiving story never acknowledges.

What The English Sources Reveal About Themselves

Almost everything historians know about Tisquantum’s behavior after 1620 comes through English writing.

That creates an unavoidable problem.

William Bradford, Edward Winslow, and the authors associated with Mourt’s Relation were not neutral observers.

They were participants in the colony.

They wrote for English audiences.

Their descriptions were shaped by Protestant beliefs, colonial priorities, assumptions about Native peoples, and the need to explain Plymouth’s survival.