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6 THANKSGIVING MYTHS AND THE WAMPANOAG SIDE OF THE STORY  
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Vincent Schilling
September 13, 2018
Indian Country Today
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_ The Thanksgiving Day Celebration originated From a Massacre - Let's
Hear the Wampanoag side of the story. Here are some of the most common
misconceptions about the November holiday.(from Indian Country Today,
original published 2017.) _

Reinactment photo, Plimoth Plantation, www.plimoth.org / Indian
Country Today,

 

THE THANKSGIVING DAY CELEBRATION ORIGINATED FROM A MASSACRE

In 1621, though Pilgrims celebrated a feast, it was not repeated in
the years to follow. In 1636, a murdered white man was found in his
boat and the Pequot were blamed. In retaliation, settlers burned
Pequot villages.

Additionally, English Major John Mason rallied his troops to further
burn Pequot wigwams and then attacked and killed hundreds more men,
women and children. According to Mason’s reports
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the massacre, “We must burn them! Such a dreadful terror let the
Almighty fall upon their spirits that they would flee from us and run
into the very flames. Thus did the Lord judge the heathen, filling the
place with dead bodies.”

The Governor of Plymouth William Bradford wrote
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“Those that escaped the fire were slain with the sword; some hewed
to pieces, others run through with their rapiers, so that they were
quickly dispatched and very few escaped. It was conceived they thus
destroyed about 400 at this time. It was a fearful sight to see them
thus frying in the fire...horrible was the stink and scent thereof,
but the victory seemed a sweet sacrifice, and they gave the prayers
thereof to God, who had wrought so wonderfully for them.”

The day after the massacre, Massachusetts Bay Colony Governor John
Winthrop wrote that from that day forth shall be a day of celebration
and thanks giving for subduing the Pequots and “For the next 100
years, every Thanksgiving Day ordained by a Governor was in honor of
the bloody victory, thanking God that the battle had been won.”

NATIVE AMERICANS AND THE PILGRIMS WERE “BESTIES”

The above statement is straight from the mouth of a fifth-grader at
Long Elementary School in Ohio, who stated the Indians (Wampanoag) and
Pilgrims were not “besties” or best friends. True to this
statement, the pilgrims in Massachusetts were far from friendly. Soon
after arriving in Plymouth, Massachusetts, Pilgrims went into
Indians’ dwellings and cornfields and took whatever they wanted
leaving beads behind. But that isn’t the picture that is painted by
many accounts of the first Thanksgiving.

According to one colonist’s account in _Lies My Teacher Told Me:
Everything Your American History Textbook Got Wrong_ by James Loewen:
“The next morning we found a place like a grave. We decided to dig
it up. We found first a mat, and under that a fine bow… We also
found bowls, trays, dishes, and things like that. We took several of
the prettiest things to carry away with us, and covered the body up
again.”

The Pilgrims settled in an area that was once Patuxet, a Wampanoag
village, but it had been abandoned four years prior because of a
deadly outbreak of a plague brought by European traders. Before 1616,
the Wampanoag numbered 50,000 to 100,000, occupying 69 villages
scattered throughout southeastern Massachusetts and eastern Rhode
Island. The plague, however, killed thousands, up to two-thirds, of
them. Many also had been captured and sold as slaves.

NATIVE AMERICANS AND PILGRIMS CAME TOGETHER TO GIVE THANKS AND
CELEBRATE

In 1621, when the Pilgrims were celebrating a successful harvest, they
were shooting guns and cannons into the air. The Wampanoag chief and
90 warriors made their way to the settlement in full warrior mode—in
response to the gunfire. As the Huffington Post’s Richard Schiffman
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it, “It remains an open question, however, whether the Wampanoag
were actually invited, or if they crashed the party.”

The Pilgrims were most likely nervous—the Wampanoag outnumbered the
Pilgrims two to one, but it certainly wasn’t the happy picture put
forth in many history books. According to Mashpee Wampanoag Tribal
Historic Preservation Officer Ramona Peters, “It was Abraham Lincoln
who used the theme of Pilgrims and Indians eating happily together. He
was trying to calm things down during the Civil War when people were
divided. It was like a nice unity story.”

THEY ATE TURKEY, SWEET POTATOES AND CRANBERRY SAUCE AT THE FIRST
THANKSGIVING

According to many historical accounts, there is no proof of turkey
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at the 1621 meal, but there was wild fowl (most likely geese or duck).
Sweet potatoes were not yet grown in North American and cranberries
are not a likely dessert food because sugar was an unaffordable
luxury. Other items on the table included such things as venison,
pumpkin, succotash and Indian corn.

EUROPEANS APPRECIATED SQUANTO’S HELP

Many have heard the story of the friendly Indian Squanto
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learned English from fishermen and later taught the Pilgrims how to
plant corn and other vegetables. But what many history books don’t
share is that Squanto was kidnapped as a boy and sold into slavery in
Spain. After several years, Squanto struggled to get back to Cape Cod.

When he returned to his village, he discovered he was the only member
of his tribe that remained—the rest were either killed in battle or
died of disease during his absence.

Another myth here would be to note that Squanto did not learn English
solely to help the colonists—it was a necessity to facilitate his
escape so he could return home.

PILGRIMS TAUGHT INDIANS ABOUT THANKSGIVING

The Pilgrims did not introduce the sentiment of Thanksgiving to the
Indians. According to Loewen, “Thanksgiving is full of embarrassing
facts. The Pilgrims did not introduce the Native Americans to the
tradition; Eastern Indians had observed autumnal harvest celebrations
for centuries. Our modern celebrations date back only to 1863; not
until the 1890s did the Pilgrims get included in the tradition; no one
even called them ‘Pilgrims’ until the 1870s.”

_This article was originally published on 11/28/13._

_[VINCENT SCHILLINg, Akwesasne Mohawk, is the editor of Native
Viewpoint. The former ICT associate editor enjoys creating media,
technology, comics, and movies. He is a film critic and writes the
#NativeNerd column. Twitter @VinceSchilling
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* Thanksgiving
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* Thanksgiving Day
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* Native Americans
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* Indigenous peoples
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* Genocide
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* false history
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* Pequot Massacre
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* Massachusetts
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* Racism
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