Why His Story Still Matters

Tisquantum matters because he sits at the intersection of several histories Americans still struggle to hold together.

He belongs to the history of Indigenous survival.

He belongs to the history of Atlantic slavery and kidnapping.

He belongs to the history of early English colonization.

He belongs to Wampanoag political history.

He belongs to the history of epidemic disease.

He belongs to the history of Thanksgiving mythology.

And he belongs to the history of how nations remember their beginnings.

A simpler biography can serve a holiday.