WHITEFIELD -- The Whitefield Library is set to host Jody Bachelder, author of "Here First, Samoset and the Wawenock People of Pemaquid, Maine," at 2 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 9, at 1 Arlington Lane.

Jody Bachelder Submitted photo

On March 16, 1621, Samoset -- a Sagamore of the Wawenock people of the Pemaquid penisula -- cemented his place in history. He was the first Indigenous person to make contact with the colonists at Plymouth Plantation, startling them when he emerged from the forest and welcomed them in English, according to a news release from the library.

Samoset was not from Plymouth. He was not even Wampanoag, or Patuxet, who lived in the area. Samoset's home was more than 200 miles away on the coast of present-day Maine.

In addition to that first meeting in Plymouth, Samoset's life coincided with several important events during the period of early contact with Europeans, and his home village of Pemaquid lay at the center of Indigenous-European interactions at the beginning of the 17th century. As a result he and his people, the Wawenock, were active participants in this history. But it came at great cost, and the way of living that had sustained them for centuries changed dramatically over the course of his lifetime as they endured war, epidemics and a clash of cultures.

Bachelder grew up on the Pemaquid peninsula. She worked for many years in the Hall-Dale school system in Farmingdale, first as an educational technician in the library, and then as the librarian after earning her master's degree. In 2013 she was named the Walter J. Taranko Maine School Librarian of the Year.

This event is free, but donations are welcome and help support future programming.

For more information visit whitefieldlibrary.org or email [email protected].

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