In this episode, we dive back in with the Mayflower Pilgrims as they limp into Patuxet—land they’ve commandeered from the Wampanoag—and struggle through a brutal winter of illness, hunger, and chaotic colonial drama, all while the Wampanoag, led by Massasoit Ousemequin, weigh whether to wipe them out or work with them.  From glacial-paced house-building to the shock of an unexpected Native visitor, through Tisquantum’s complicated, world-spanning backstory and the uneasy alliance that followed, this episode unpacks just how razor-thin the Pilgrims’ survival really was—and how these early, fragile relationships helped set the stage for the future United States. 

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The 2 major sources used for this episode series are:

• Mayflower: Voyage, Community, War by Nathaniel Philbrick, published in 2007 by Penguin Books
• This Land is Their Land: The Wampanoag Indians, Plymouth Colony, and the Troubled History of Thanksgiving by David J. Silverman, published in 2019 by Bloomsbury Publishing

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