Samoset (ca. 1590 – 1653) was the first Native American to make contact with the Pilgrims. On March 16, 1621 the settlers were more than surprised when Samoset strolled straight through the middle of the encampment at Plymouth Colony and greeted them in English and asked whether they had any beer for himEdward Winslow, http://members.aol.com/calebj/mourt1.html/ Mourt's Relation (1622).. He was a member of an Abenaki tribe that resided at that time in Maine.