People have considered the possibility that the missing colonists could have assimilated into nearby Native American tribes since at least 1605. If this integration was successful, the assimilated colonists would gradually exhaust their European supplies (ammunition, clothing) and discard European culture (language, style of dress, agriculture) as Algonquian lifestyle became more convenient. Colonial era Europeans observed that many people removed from European society by Native Americans for substantial periods of time—even if captured or enslaved—were reluctant to return; the reverse was seldom true. Therefore, it is reasonable to postulate that, if the colonists were assimilated, they or their descendants would not seek reintegration with subsequent English settlers.