A Translator Responsible for Saving the Pilgrims
Squanto, the very last of the Patuxet, threw in his lot with the pilgrims, and if you are a descendant of anyone who ever came to Plymouth on a ship, and if you woke up this morning wondering who you could thank for your existence today, Squanto would be a decent starting point (after your mother, of course).
What a difference a translator makes
This lifelong friendship turned out to be very fruitful to the pilgrims, in part because the Wampanoags taught these new kids on the block a lot about life in the area, and in part because the Wampanoags didn’t kill them all. For all their gunpowder, Governor Carver and his friends would hardly have lasted very long if a fierce tribal war chief came blazing in one day looking for blood (especially not given that inconvenient bit where most of them were already dead because of the winter). Having the Wampanoags on their side meant not only that they were safe from the Wampanoags, but that they had friends on their side should any other hostile tribes come looking for a fight.