AVID H. Garcia began tracing his ancestry more than a decade ago, eager to learn more about the members of the renowned Pequot tribe and their descendants, long displaced to countries around the world.

"They are more commonly known as the Thanksgiving tribe," the American said in explaining their place in history, "the tribe that let the Pilgrims settle in Massachusetts."

The tribe is also known for its involvement in the bloodiest war in American history if one compares the numbers killed to the population at the time. At least one in ten people died in battle during King Philip's War, which raged in New England between 1675 and 1676.

The war was caused by the settlers' lust for land, which resulted in the heavy-handed treatment of the Pequot tribe and other native Indians by officials in the colonies of Plymouth, Massachusetts Bay, Connecticut and New Haven.

The war ended with the death of King Philip, known to his tribe as Metacomet. By that point, however, more than 600 colonists and 3,000 Indians were dead. It is believed that many of the surviving women and children were captured, later sold as slaves around the world.

"After King Philip was defeated, his people were exiled to Bermuda, the West Indies, to Senegal, to Africa, to the Cape Verde Islands, to Spain and the Azores," Mr. Garcia said.

"The survivors were mostly women and children under the age of 14 years. Warriors were killed and any man over the age of 14 was put to death. In Massachusetts they say all of King Philip's people are dead and so they're doing DNA testing. (It) will dispute that belief because there are so many of us.

"My dream is to find the descendants of the tribe wherever they may be in the world; to discover if there is some way they can return to the States to carry on their culture and traditions as this younger generation is not even interested. If we don't find our people, we will become extinct like so many animals that don't exist today."

It was against that backdrop that he travelled to the island this week courtesy of Kenneth Minors, a Bermudian who also descends from the Pequot tribe.

"I'm here for several reasons," Mr. Garcia explained. "First and foremost, I came down to have a vacation and to research my genealogy. My grandmother Annie Elizabeth Bluck was born here. She was 11 years old when she was brought to the US from Bermuda and so would not have been able to travel to the United States alone.

"Because she was only 11, some kind of arrangement would have had to have been made and so one of the reasons I'm here doing research, is to try and find her sponsor."

As he sought to discover more about his grandmother, Mr. Garcia learned that she had travelled to the United States on the presumably under the care of a Caucasian woman.

"The ship that she travelled on, the , is the same ship that an S.C. Outerbridge travelled on. Her picture was in the back of a book I saw, and so I've assumed she must have been (my grandmother's) sponsor."

Bermuda's interest in the Pequot tribe has always been high. In February 2002, St. Clair (Brinky) Tucker and others helped co-ordinate a visit to Bermuda by Tall Oak, a Native Indian who serves on the advisory board of the American Indian Friends Coalition and is a charter member of the Mashantucket Pequot Research Centre.

He spoke to Bermuda's connection with the Pequot tribe at a public forum, informing those present of a discovery he had made through historical records and shipping lists ? that many Indians had indeed, been shipped to Bermuda after the King Philip War.

"When our people were put in chains and shipped to Bermuda . . . the intention was that they would just disappear and it would be the end of them as Indian people," he said at the time. "When I arrived here and looked into the faces I saw so many that looked like my people back home. It was then I realised the English could not have failed more miserably."

A 'Reconnecting Meeting' followed soon after, the highlight of which was the arrival of three tribes to teach Bermudians about Indian language, dance and culture. The momentum continued with a family reunion months later.

A Philadelphian professor who included Native Americans among his ancestors, Ron Welburn, was the featured speaker. He felt that his surname implied ties to the Bermuda tribe.

A similar sentiment was this week expressed by Mr. Garcia.

"I'm here to find my long-lost cousins ? the Richardsons, the Wilsons, the Clements and the Blucks," he said. "I was told by Kenny that there are way more who are related to me but we don't have their names at this particular time.

"What I would like to see is all the groups that are splintered here come together as one people. Most probably don't realise they're descendants of the Pequot Tribe although some do. I know that every three or four years a group of Bermudians travel to the Pequot Reserve for a tribal event. But it would be nice to see them represented here, maybe in the May 24 parade."

in Rhode Island and now a resident of Massachusetts, Mr. Garcia expressed his gratitude to Mr. Minors, "for covering all my expenses" and to Mr. Minors' cousin Dora Hollis, who he said helped him immensely with his research. He first met the family some years ago, when Mr. Minors and his brother, Ralph Smith, travelled to the Pequot's tribal seat in Bristol, Rhode Island.

"Kenny found out he was a descendant of King Philip's tribe, the Pequot tribe," said Mr. Garcia. "They were in Massachusetts but travelled to visit the King Philip Inn, a hotel where the Indians have tribal meetings in Bristol, Rhode Island.

"The tribal president asked me to take them to the King Philip seat, a throne or chair carved in the cliffs where he and his wife used to sit. They were so touched to be in the place of their ancestors ? they picked up stones off the ground and brought them back to Bermuda."

In talking later, the brothers mentioned the island's interest in learning more about a Pequot princess who reportedly died here.

"They explained that no one knew where she was buried or what her name was," Mr. Garcia said. "It brought a memory back to me. My grandmother told me she was a princess although she never talked much about her childhood or the history of King Philip or Bermuda."

A firm friendship was struck at that point. Two years ago, Mr. Minors returned to Bristol for its Fourth of July celebrations. Established in 1785, it is the oldest continuous celebration of its kind in the United States.

"The Bristol Fourth of July parade is the oldest in the country and the tribal members got in touch with Kenny and invited him to be a part of the parade," said Mr. Garcia.

"He didn't have any regalia and so Morning Mist, one of the tribal members, made his regalia for him. Kenny actually helped to build the float with some of the tribal members and he later rode on it in the parade."

The float, Mr. Garcia proudly stated, went on to win the parade's historical award.

Added Mr. Minors: "At present I'm the only one on the island with Indian regalia ? an outfit made of deerskin."