Could you post the right link? That's a new one for me and I'd certainly like to see their reasoning.

There were certainly native Americans who could speak European languages by the time the Pilgrim Fathers arrived, as Europeans had been travelling back and forth for trade and to exploit resources for a while before that.

I'm wondering if the person was just confusing the 17th c. Pilgrim voyages with Columbus' much earlier voyages?

Maybe he's thinking of http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ger%C3%B3nimo_de_Aguilar ?