The tribe was one of the first to be visited by European explorers and colonists, who abducted some tribal members to sell into slavery in Spain and introduced diseases which reduced the Nauset population even before colonization of New England began on a large scale.

[2] Desperately low on supplies, the Pilgrims helped themselves to a cache of maize, though they left a note (in English) promising to pay for what they had stolen.

The Nauset also returned a small boy who had wandered away from the colony and become lost, an act which greatly improved relations with nearby colonists.

[4] Living along the Atlantic Ocean, the Nauset relied heavily on seafood, but also impressed European explorers with the productivity of their swidden agriculture based on the "three sisters" of maize, beans, squash, as well as Jerusalem artichokes, tobacco and silviculture of mast trees.

Men plucked their beards, and cut the hair on top of their head short, leaving the rest long.