To one group, they can look like collaborators.

To another, they can look unreliable.

Tisquantum occupied exactly that dangerous position.

Modern Wampanoag perspectives do not necessarily celebrate him in the way mainstream Thanksgiving traditions do.

Plimoth Patuxet’s educational materials describe him as a complex historical figure and note that some Wampanoag interpretations treat him as an anti-hero because of his plotting against Ousamequin.

This is important because it prevents a different kind of simplification.

Correcting the old Thanksgiving myth does not require turning Tisquantum into an uncomplicated Indigenous hero.

His kidnapping was an injustice.

His survival was remarkable.

His assistance to the colonists was historically important.