Manteo and Wanchese were pioneering explorers. Leading figures in the Algonquian community on Roanoke Island, on North America’s Atlantic coast, the two men were persuaded to sail to London after the first English mission to the region arrived in 1584. They were tasked by their chief, Wingina, with finding out as much as possible about the strangers. Though from similar backgrounds, their responses to their encounter with England could not have been more different.
Manteo was convinced that securing his people’s future meant working with the foreigners. After befriending Englishmen and learning English, he returned to North America as an interpreter and guide,
