Native Americans Helped the Colonists Survive

Who lived in America before the Europeans arrived? Native Americans or American Indians. When European colonists arrived in the 1600s, Native Americans already lived throughout North America. They had inhabited the land for thousands of years and possessed extensive knowledge of the environment, agriculture, and survival skills. Many early colonists survived only because Native Americans taught them how to grow crops, find food, and live in their new environment.

The relationship between colonists and Native Americans was complex. It began with assistance and trade but deteriorated into conflict, displacement, and violence as colonists took more land and colonial populations grew.

The Essential Facts

For the citizenship test, remember: Native Americans lived in America before Europeans arrived. Native Americans helped early colonists survive by teaching them farming, showing them local foods, and helping them adapt to the new environment.

Key ways Native Americans helped colonists:

Agriculture: Taught colonists to grow corn, beans, and squash using methods suited to American soil and climate.

Food Sources: Showed colonists which wild plants were edible, how to hunt local animals, and where to fish.

Survival Skills: Taught colonists how to build suitable shelters, make warm clothing, and survive harsh winters.

Trade: Traded furs, food, and goods with colonists, providing essential supplies.

Alliances: Some Native American groups allied with colonists against rival tribes or European powers.

Without this assistance, many more colonists would have died, especially in the early settlement years when colonists knew little about surviving in America.

The Jamestown Example (1607)

Jamestown, Virginia, was the first permanent English settlement in America. It nearly failed:

Early Disasters:
The first settlers arrived in May 1607. They chose a swampy location with poor water and many mosquitoes. Most settlers were gentlemen unused to manual labor. They spent time searching for gold instead of planting crops.

By winter 1607-1608, colonists were starving. Disease killed many. Only 38 of the original 104 colonists survived the first year. The “Starving Time” of winter 1609-1610 killed about 80% of colonists. People ate horses, dogs, rats, and even resorted to cannibalism. The colony almost disappeared.

Powhatan Assistance:
The Powhatan Confederacy, led by Chief Powhatan, initially helped the colonists survive. They traded corn and food for English tools and weapons. Pocahontas, Powhatan’s daughter, reportedly helped maintain peace between her people and the colonists.

Without Powhatan food supplies, Jamestown would have failed. Captain John Smith later wrote that Native Americans “brought us Corne, when we rather expected… they would destroy us.”

Why Did Powhatan Help?
Powhatan likely saw advantages in trade with colonists. English metal tools, weapons, and goods were valuable. Powhatan may have hoped to use English colonists as allies against rival tribes. He probably did not foresee that colonists would eventually take all Native lands.

The relationship deteriorated as colonists demanded more land for tobacco farming. Wars between Jamestown colonists and Powhatan peoples erupted in 1610, 1622, and 1644, killing hundreds on both sides and eventually defeating the Powhatan Confederacy.

The Plymouth Example (1620)

The Pilgrims’ survival at Plymouth Colony also depended on Native American assistance:

Harsh First Winter:
Pilgrims arrived in November 1620—too late to plant crops. They had inadequate shelter and food. About half the 102 Pilgrims died during the first winter from cold, disease, and starvation.

Squanto’s Help:
In March 1621, an English-speaking Native American named Squanto (Tisquantum) appeared at Plymouth. Squanto had an extraordinary life story: he had been kidnapped years earlier, taken to Europe, learned English, and eventually returned to America only to find his entire village dead from disease.

Squanto taught Pilgrims essential survival skills:

• How to plant corn using fish as fertilizer
• Which wild plants were edible
• Where to hunt and fish
• How to survive New England winters

Massasoit Alliance:
Chief Massasoit of the Wampanoag people made a peace treaty with Plymouth in 1621. This alliance lasted 50 years. The Wampanoag helped Plymouth colonists, and colonists helped Wampanoag against rival tribes.

First Thanksgiving (1621):
After their first successful harvest in fall 1621, Pilgrims celebrated with a feast. They invited Massasoit and about 90 Wampanoag people. This three-day celebration is remembered as the “First Thanksgiving,” though it was more a harvest festival and diplomatic event than the Thanksgiving holiday we celebrate today.

Later Conflict:
Like Jamestown, the Plymouth-Wampanoag relationship eventually deteriorated. As more English colonists arrived and took more land, tensions grew. King Philip’s War (1675-1676), led by Massasoit’s son Metacom (called “King Philip”), was one of the bloodiest wars in American history proportional to population. It devastated both Native and colonial communities in New England.

What Native Americans Taught Colonists

Native Americans shared extensive knowledge:

Corn (Maize):
Corn was unknown in Europe. Native Americans had cultivated it for thousands of years. They taught colonists:

• How to plant corn in hills with beans and squash (“Three Sisters” farming)
• Using fish as fertilizer
• Different corn varieties and uses
• Making cornmeal and other corn products

Corn became a staple crop for colonists and essential to colonial survival.

Other Crops:
Native Americans also grew:

• Beans (many varieties)
• Squash and pumpkins
• Tobacco (which became Virginia’s cash crop)
• Potatoes (in South America, later spreading north)

These crops were all unknown in Europe and became important globally.

Wild Foods:
Native Americans showed colonists:

• Which berries, nuts, and plants were edible
• How to tap maple trees for syrup
• Where to find clams, oysters, and other shellfish
• Hunting techniques for deer, turkey, and other game

Medicine:
Native Americans used many plants for medicine. They shared knowledge of:

• Willow bark (containing salicylic acid, similar to aspirin)
• Various healing herbs
• Treatments for wounds and illnesses

Some of these remedies became the basis for modern medicines.

Survival Techniques:

• Building wigwams and other shelters suited to the climate
• Making warm clothing from animal skins
• Preserving food for winter
• Making canoes and snowshoes
• Starting fires
• Following game trails

Geography:
Native Americans knew the land intimately. They:

• Showed colonists routes through forests
• Identified water sources
• Explained seasonal patterns
• Warned about dangerous areas

This knowledge was invaluable to colonists unfamiliar with American environments.

Why Did Native Americans Help?

Native Americans helped colonists for various reasons:

Trade Benefits:
European metal tools, weapons, cloth, and other goods were valuable. Native Americans wanted access to these items and traded food and furs to get them.

Political Alliances:
Some Native American groups saw colonists as potential allies against rival tribes. Supporting weak colonists might create useful future partnerships.

Diplomatic Relations:
Native Americans had traditions of hospitality and diplomacy. Helping newcomers was consistent with diplomatic practices of gift-giving and relationship-building.

Compassion:
Some Native Americans simply took pity on struggling colonists. They saw people suffering from cold and hunger and helped out of human kindness.

Underestimating Colonists:
Many Native Americans did not foresee how quickly colonial populations would grow or how much land colonists would take. Early colonists seemed weak and dependent. Native Americans did not anticipate they would eventually overwhelm indigenous populations.

The Tragic Irony

The tragic irony is that Native American assistance enabled colonial survival, which eventually led to Native American destruction:

Population Growth:
Colonists who survived because of Native American help had children. More colonists arrived from Europe. Colonial populations grew rapidly.

Land Seizure:
As colonies expanded, colonists took more Native American land. What started as small settlements became large colonies pushing Native peoples from their ancestral homes.

Disease:
European diseases brought by colonists devastated Native American populations. Smallpox, measles, typhus, and other illnesses killed 90% or more of some Native populations. Ironically, the close contact that allowed knowledge transfer also spread deadly diseases.

Warfare:
Initial cooperation turned into warfare as colonists and Native Americans competed for land. Colonial military advantages (guns, horses, numbers) eventually overwhelmed Native resistance.

Cultural Destruction:
Colonists not only took land but also tried to destroy Native cultures. Christian missionaries sought to convert Native Americans. Later, the U.S. government forced Native children into boarding schools to “civilize” them by destroying their languages and cultures.

Native Americans who helped early colonists survive could not have foreseen that they were enabling forces that would nearly destroy their own peoples.

Complex Relationships

The colonist-Native American relationship was never simply friendly or hostile. It was complex and varied:

Trade Partnerships:
Throughout the colonial period, colonists and Native Americans traded. Fur trade was especially important. Both sides benefited economically, creating incentives for cooperation.

Intermarriage:
Some colonists married Native Americans, creating family connections and mixed communities, especially in French and Spanish colonies.

Cultural Exchange:
Both groups learned from each other. Colonists adopted Native foods, clothing, and techniques. Native Americans adopted European tools, weapons, and some practices.

Political Alliances:
During wars between European powers, Native American alliances were crucial. In the French and Indian War (1754-1763), different tribes allied with French or British. Native American military support often determined outcomes.

Conflict and Violence:
Despite cooperation, violence was common. Wars, raids, and massacres killed thousands on both sides. As colonial populations grew, conflict increased.

Displacement:
Ultimately, European colonization resulted in Native Americans being pushed from their lands, confined to smaller territories, and suffering catastrophic population decline.

Why This History Matters

Understanding Native American assistance to colonists is important:

Acknowledging Contributions:
Native Americans were not obstacles to colonial success but active contributors. Their knowledge and assistance were essential to colonial survival. This deserves recognition.

Understanding Complexity:
The colonist-Native American relationship was not simply good or bad but complex. It involved cooperation, trade, cultural exchange, conflict, and tragedy.

Recognizing Injustice:
Colonial success came at terrible cost to Native Americans. Understanding this history helps acknowledge historical injustices and their lasting impacts.

Appreciating Indigenous Knowledge:
Native American knowledge of agriculture, medicine, and environment was sophisticated and valuable. Much of this knowledge has been lost, but what remains should be preserved and respected.

Modern Implications:
Native Americans and their descendants still live in America. Understanding historical relationships helps navigate contemporary issues of tribal sovereignty, land rights, and cultural preservation.

Connections That Matter

Understanding Native American assistance connects to colonial history. Colonists did not succeed alone but with crucial indigenous help. This challenges narratives of purely European achievement in building America.

This history relates to American values of gratitude and fairness. Colonists benefited enormously from Native American generosity and knowledge. Recognizing this debt is morally important.

Native American history also connects to constitutional principles of tribal sovereignty. The complex history of colonist-Native American relations influenced how the Constitution addresses tribal governance and federal-tribal relations.

For more on Native Americans, see our article on who lived in America before Europeans in the uscis-questions category. To understand colonial history, read about the 13 colonies and why colonists came to America. To learn about later periods, explore articles on westward expansion and Indian removal.

Top 10 Frequently Asked Questions

Did all Native Americans help colonists?
No. Some helped, some remained neutral, some opposed colonists from the start. Native American responses varied by tribe, region, and circumstances. Generalizing all Native Americans as helpful or hostile is inaccurate.

Why is this history not taught more?
For many years, American history focused on European perspectives and minimized Native American roles. This has changed somewhat, with more emphasis on indigenous contributions and perspectives, but education still often underemphasizes Native American history.

Did colonists appreciate Native American help?
Initially, yes—colonists wrote grateful accounts of assistance. But as colonies grew powerful, colonists often forgot early dependence and viewed Native Americans as obstacles to expansion rather than people who had saved them.

What happened to Squanto?
Squanto lived with Plymouth colonists and served as interpreter and advisor until his death in 1622, likely from disease. He remained with colonists despite knowing they would eventually harm his people.

What happened to Pocahontas?
Pocahontas was captured by colonists in 1613, converted to Christianity, married English settler John Rolfe, and traveled to England where she died in 1617 at about age 21. Her story has been romanticized, but her life was marked by colonial violence and displacement.

Could colonists have survived without Native American help?
Possibly eventually, but many more would have died. The first winters killed huge percentages of colonists. Without Native American food supplies and knowledge, whole colonies might have failed before learning to survive independently.

Did Native Americans regret helping colonists?
We cannot know what individuals thought, but many Native Americans later expressed that early assistance to colonists was a mistake. They could not have foreseen the consequences.

Are there still Native Americans today?
Yes. About 5.2 million people in the United States identify as Native American or Alaska Native. Many maintain cultural traditions, tribal governments, and connections to ancestral lands despite centuries of oppression.

How did different European colonies relate to Native Americans?
It varied. Spanish colonies often enslaved Native Americans. French colonies had more intermarriage and partnership through fur trade. English colonies had mixed relationships but ultimately displaced most eastern Native peoples. Each colonial power had different approaches.

What should I memorize for the citizenship test?
Native Americans lived in America before Europeans arrived. Native Americans helped colonists survive. Know that indigenous peoples taught colonists farming, showed them food sources, and provided crucial assistance. This is sufficient for the test.