Engraving by Albert Bobbett entitled: Landing of the pilgrims. Massasoit Sachem or Ousamequin (1581 – 1661) was the leader of the Wampanoag Confederacy. According to English sources, Massasoit prevented the failure of Plymouth Colony and the almost cert

Ousemequin, otherwise known as Massasoit, and his Wampanoag tribe supposedly unselfishly gave the Pilgrims food to get them through the horrrible first winter. The friendship between Native people and English settlers was more likely fraught with tension because of Pilgrims’ constant land grabs. (Science History Images/Alamy Stock Photo)