Description
These men all seem to have been captives brought to England by some of the earliest explorers along the east coast of North America. Little is known about their time in London, although Epenow was “shewed up and down” the streets, where he called out “Welcome! Welcome!” to stunned onlookers; scholars Sidney Lee and Alden Vaughan have suggested that he inspired the “strange Indian” mentioned in Shakespeare’s Henry VIII. Epenow returned to his homeland as part of an English expedition to find gold. He escaped and eventually took up arms against later explorers and colonists. What happened to Coneconam, Manawet, and Pennekimme is unclear, but one source suggests that Sakaweston became a soldier on the continent. They were in London from 1611 to possibly 1614.
Bibliographic sources
Thrush, Indigenous London, 44, 45, 48, 52, 56, 57.