This document provides brief biographies of four indigenous individuals: 1. Opechancanough ruled the powerful Pamunkey tribe in Virginia and was able to mobilize 1000 warriors quickly. 2. Patuext was a Patuxet Native American who helped the Pilgrims survive their first winter through teaching agricultural techniques and locating resources. 3. Couechitto was a common-born Choctaw warrior who attained the high rank of war captain through bravery in battle against the Chickasaws. 4. Peters was a slave in the 1700s who repeatedly tried to escape and found inspiration for freedom from his own slave master's household.

1. Frances Lacsamana

2.  Ruled over the largest tribe,
Pamunkey tribe.
 Population of twelve hundred,
including over three hundred
warriors.
 The homeland was rich in
copper and pearls from
freshwater mussels.
 Opechancanough was spoken
of how disciplined and fierce
the Pamunkeys were and
reported that he was able to
mobilize a thousand bow man
in two days.

3.  A Patuext Native American who
assisted the Pilgrims after their
first winter in the New World
and was integral to their
survival.
 He taught techniques to
increase food production, by
fertilizing crops and showed
them the best locations to catch
fish and eels.
 He was the guide and translator
for settler Stephen Hopkins and
Edward Winslow as they
traveled upland on a diplomatic
mission to the Wampanoag
sachem.

4.  A common warrior of the Choctaws who earned his name by
slaying Chickasaws and obtained war captain of Couechitto.
 His name and title was the highest rank a man of common birth
could normally attain.
 He was the subordinate of Mingo Tchito and traded goods with
the English and French Louisiana tribe.
 He survived because of his loyalty to the warriors.

5.  1760 Peters was kidnapped and by
African slave traders and was sold to
the captain of a French slave ship.
 He did not do well as a slave and tried
to escape every chance he could get.
 During punishment he yearned for
freedom and his owners would stop
enforcing when it did not seem to
work.
 Finally Peters was sold to a town called
Wilmington and found inspiration for
the struggle for freedom in the
household of his own slave master.