Squanto and Joseph of Egypt
All I knew about Squanto when I became intrigued with the story of the Pilgrims, was that he was the Indian that helped the Pilgrims learn how to farm in their new land. Learning some of his story has been another witness to me of a divine plan for the Pilgrim's eventual success.
Now, when I think of Squanto, I can't help but think Joseph of Egypt. The Bible teaches us of the young boy, sold into servitude, separated from family, and taken to a strange land. Joseph had to learn a new culture and a new language. Through test and trial and perseverance, Joseph became not only instrumental, but critical in the saving of a foreign people and a foreign nation. That is Squanto's story as well.
Before the Pilgrims ever set foot on American soil, many Europeans had come having heard of all the wonders of the new land. Some came for fur, some came for fish, and others came for a variety of New World treasures. What they didn't come for was long-term settlement, which required assimilating and learning to get along with new neighbors. As a result, the Europeans had no thought for building respectful relationships and some of them killed natives and/or captured natives and returned to Europe to sell them as slaves. One sad example is that of an unusually tall Indian who was paraded in European streets as a spectacle for which the owner was paid to put on display.
Akin to the evil designs of Joseph's brothers, Thomas Hunt, a commander of one of John Smith's vessels, made the decision to fill his vessel with as many natives as possible and return to Spain to sell them as slaves. Understandably, the decision had heavy consequences for the relationships between the Indians and English for many, many years. One of the natives aboard Hunt's ship was Squanto, a young man of the Patuxet tribe.
Squanto spent 5 years in Europe---Spain, England, and Newfoundland specifically. Like Joseph, a foreigner in Egypt, Squanto in his unknown land learned about European ways and how to speak English. Of course, always longing for his family and home, finally, in 1619, Squanto found his way onto the ship of Thomas Dermer, an English explorer headed for America. Plymouth wasn't their first stop, but we can only imagine his anticipation of being reunited with his family.
Joseph's miracle was a reunion with his long-lost family. Squanto's story deviates at this point. Upon returning to the land of his youth, Squanto found not a soul of his family or his tribe. Three years prior, a plague had struck his people and every single soul, in number 2000-3000, were wiped out. The land where they had once thrived was now barren and lifeless. I cannot imagine how Squanto must have felt.
One year later, the Pilgrims arrived at this same location. Cleared and prepared by Squanto's people, it was the difference between life and death for the sick and weak Pilgrims. Having arrived the 2nd week in November, there was no time to clear ground or plant crops before winter. That period in history is marked by successive extreme and long winters.
They did the best they could, but it was miserable at best until one day a native walked into camp. On the defense, the Pilgrims were happily shocked when this native exclaimed, "Welcome, English!" It was Samoset, another name heard in the story of the Pilgrims. With this introduction, Squanto soon followed and stayed with the Pilgrims the first year. There, on his home turf, he taught the Pilgrims how to plant corn, fish, and hunt. There were tricks to the trade that the English did not know, but Squanto supplied.
Just as the Egyptian nation and Joseph's family would have starved without Joseph, the Pilgrims would have starved without Squanto. Both Joseph and Squanto endured a grueling divine preparation. According to William Bradford, Squanto was a "special instrument sent from God." Joseph and Squanto each chose to move forward doing what he could to bless the lives of unlikely friends. We have a lot to learn from the examples of Joseph and Squanto.
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