The crew turned back and determined
to take whatever hostages they could before suspicions spread. The next day, two canoes with three men each came to the ship, includ- ing a regular visitor “of a ready capacity” that Waymouth and Rosier had already marked to take back to England. Three came on board. To round up the others, Rosier went on shore with a box of merchandise and a plate of peas; two of the tribesmen sat with him, and the English crew jumped them, wrestling them into the long boat by grabbing their long hair. Waymouth also took their canoes and all their bows and arrows, storing them carefully for the voyage. By chance, the captives were more impor- tant than the English at first realized. Their leader, Nahanendo (also spelled as Tahanendo and Tahando, among others), was sagamore of the region and a close relative of Bashabes, the chief of the Abenaki confederacy. The great chief tried urgently to rescue his tribesmen. As Waymouth continued to explore up the river, Bashabes sent canoes repeatedly, offering to trade large quantities of fur and tobacco. “This we perceived to be only a mere device to get possession of any of our men,” wrote Rosier, “to ransome all those which we had taken.” Waymouth shortly turned back for Eng-
land, realizing that his most valuable cargo were the five captives below decks. Rosier turned his efforts to restoring good relations with the bewildered former friends. “Although at the time when we surprised them, they made their best resistence, not knowing our purpose, nor what we were, nor how we meant to use them; yet after perceiving by their kind usage we intended them no harme, they have never since seemed discontented with us.” Rosier was apparently in charge of their
debriefing, and by his account it went very well. He called them “very tractable, loving, and willing by their best meanes to satisfie us in any thing we demanded of them, by words or signes for their understanding.” “We have brought them to understand
some English, and we understand much of their language; so as we are able to aske them many things.” Among other things Rosier learned their
names, although not how to spell them. In ad- dition to Nahanendo, the sagamore, he identi- fied three as “gentlemen,” Amoret, Skicowaros and Maneddo, and a “servant,” Assacomoit. (Variant spelling are listed in the Cast of Char- acters, see page 34, but none of them remotely resemble Squanto or Tisquantum.) They told him that their homeland, the territory of Bashabes, was called Mawooshin.
THE MAWOOSHIN FIVE A
s soon as they set foot in England, it was clear that the Mawooshin Five were a valuable source of in- telligence. They became the target
of international intrigue. Rosier reports that “some forrein Nation (being fully assured of the fruitfulnesse of the countrie)” was trying to involve Waymouth “in conveying away our Salvages,” a plot “which was busily in prac- tice.” The likely party was Spain; although it couldn’t prevent other countries from en- croaching on its claim to North America, it did its best to spy on what they were doing. The still murky plot failed, but Rosier decided to keep secret most of what “his Salvages” had taught him, including a list of 400 to 500 Al- gonquian words. Domestic intrigue also intervened. With
the collapse of the coalition backing Way- mouth, a new grouping of businessmen stepped into the void, obtaining a royal char- ter for a Virginia Company. The new endeavor had two branches. A London grouping con- centrated on a new settlement at Jamestown. West County entrepreneurs from Bristol and Plymouth made plans for “North Virginia,” exploiting the Mawooshin captives. The apparent Spanish plot against “our
Salvages” must also have raised concern about the security of Nahanendo and his party. They wound up as “guests” of two of the best-guard- ed figures in England, the Lord Chief Justice John Popham and the commander of the fort at Plymouth, Sir Ferdinando Gorges. Popham, with a “Hanging John” reputation for severity, had served on the tribunals that condemned Mary Queen of Scots and Guy Fawkes. Gorges, a veteran of European wars, had played an ap- parent double role in the attempted coup of the Earl of Essex against Queen Elizabeth, sav- ing Popham from the conspirators. Their new association with the Abenaki decisively turned their interests westward. Gorges was very taken with his house
guests, whom he called Maneday and As- sacomet. (These are clearly two names from Rosier’s account.
The confusion about
Tisquantum/Squanto comes from one sen- tence in a late memoir, in which Gorges or a posthumous editor inserted the Wampanoag’s name in the list.) He praised the Abenaki for
SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION 37
“WAYMOUTH SHORTLY TURNED BACK FOR ENGLAND, REALIZING THAT HIS MOST VALUABLE CARGO WERE THE FIVE CAPTIVES BELOW DECKS. ROSIER TURNED HIS EFFORTS TO RESTORING GOOD RELATIONS WITH THE BEWILDERED FORMER FRIENDS. “ALTHOUGH AT THE TIME WHEN WE SURPRISED THEM, THEY MADE THEIR BEST RESISTENCE, NOT KNOWING OUR PURPOSE, NOR WHAT WE WERE, NOR HOW WE MEANT TO USE THEM.”
“great civility farre from the rudeness of our common people” and talked with them at length about their homeland. “And the longer I conversed with them, the better hope they gave me of those parts where they did inhabit, as proper for our uses.” Their information included “what great
Rivers ran up into the land, what men of note were seated on them, what power they were of, how allyed, what enemies they had, and the like of which in his proper place.” This intel- ligence fed into a briefing paper now known to historians as “The Names of the Rivers;” it was found in a cache of 17th
century English
state papers in the early 1900s and revisited as a fresh source as late as 2007. The Mawooshin Natives were very likely induced to be forth- coming by the hope of returning home. Both Gorges and Popham attempted to make good on the promise.
E
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68