First Thanksgiving mourners reject the glossy myths of cheerful Pilgrims sharing a feast with grateful Indian neighbors. The story we know today has been passed through generations since the mid-1800s with threads reaching back to the early 1600s. In 1970, an elder of the Wampanoag tribe wrote a speech for the residents of Plymouth, Massachusetts that took the sheen off the traditional story.
Yes, the Pilgrims celebrated their first successful harvest with a feast. And yes, the Wampanoags broke bread with their new neighbors. But it is likely that the feast dripped with tension and an undercurrent of treacherous implications for their future.
NOTE: The images in this post represent the Wampanoags and several other Native American Tribes.
National Day of Mourning Sprang From A Suppressed Speech
Frank James (1923-2001) was an elder of the Wampanoag in 1970 when asked to speak at the celebration of the First Thanksgiving for the residents of Plymouth, Massachusetts. He was also a talented trumpet player and possibly the first Native American graduate of the New England Conservatory of Music. He was a gifted scrimshaw artist, painter, silversmith, model ship maker, fisherman, sailor and raconteur.
The festival officials would not approve his speech as written, so James declined to speak, but his speech became the basis for replacing celebrations of the First Thanksgiving with a National Day of Mourning. According to United American Indians of New England (UAINE):
“Still clinging to the white schoolbook myth of friendly relations between their forefathers and the Wampanoag, the anniversary planners thought it would be nice to have an Indian make an appreciative and complimentary speech at their state dinner.”
As it turned out, Frank James’ views — based on history rather than mythology — were not what the Pilgrims’ descendants wanted to hear.
“It is with mixed emotion that I stand here to share my thoughts. This is a time of celebration for you – celebrating an anniversary of a beginning for the white man in America.” (Frank James)
James said that recounting the history of his people for his speech made his heart heavy.
“Even before the Pilgrims landed it was common practice for explorers to capture Indians, take them to Europe and sell them as slaves for 220 shillings apiece. … Mourt’s Relation describes a searching party of sixteen men. Mourt goes on to say that this party took as much of the Indians’ winter provisions as they were able to carry.” (Frank James)
(A link to the referenced Mourt’s Relation, a journal written by Pilgrims, can be accessed in the last section of this post.)
Although Massasoit, the great Sachem of the Wampanoag people was aware of these facts, James wrote that he and his people chose to befriend the settlers of the Plymouth Plantation.
“Perhaps he did this because his Tribe had been depleted by an epidemic. Or his knowledge of the harsh oncoming winter was the reason for his peaceful acceptance of these acts. This action by Massasoit was perhaps our biggest mistake. We, the Wampanoag, welcomed you, the white man, with open arms, little knowing that it was the beginning of the end; that before 50 years were to pass, the Wampanoag would no longer be a free people.”
Instead of upholding the version of the First Thanksgiving taught in outdated textbooks, James intended to shed light on atrocities committed against his people. Among the most important were broken promises of land ownership.
From 1774 until 1832, treaties between individual sovereign Native American nations and the United States were negotiated to establish land borders. In 1863, Marie Bottineau Baldwin became one of the first Native American women to become a force in federal politics for Native Americans. But by 1871, the House of Representatives ceased to recognize individual American Indian tribes with whom the U.S. could negotiate treaties.
The Pilgrims escalated the mistreatment of his people. Only ten years after the so-called First Thanksgiving, the Pilgrims and Puritans sought to convert the souls of what they considered savages.
“History wants us to believe that the Indian was a savage, illiterate, uncivilized animal. A history that was written by an organized, disciplined people, to expose us as an unorganized and undisciplined entity. “ (Frank James)
James’ entire speech is posted on the UAINE website.
Despite declining to speak at the main celebration that Thanksgiving day in 1970, James delivered his speech to a gathering at Coles Hill in Plymouth, Massachusetts. With it, he helped to establish the National Day of Mourning, which continues to be observed by many Native Americans.
The following plaque was erected by the people of Plymouth on behalf of the United American Indians of New England (UAINE).
“Thanksgiving Day is a reminder of the genocide of millions of Native people, the theft of Native lands, and the relentless assault on Native culture,” according to the United American Indians of New England, which established and continues to provide leadership for the National Day of Mourning. “Participants in National Day of Mourning honor Native ancestors and the struggles of Native peoples to survive today. It is a day of remembrance and spiritual connection as well as a protest of the racism and oppression which Native Americans continue to experience.”
The Troubled History Of A National Holiday of Thanksgiving
Thanksgiving started as a regional holiday observed in New England states. People who moved to other states from coast to coast carried it with them. Eventually some individual states formalized the holiday, but on different days.
The holiday as we know it came into play around the time of the Civil War. Thanks to the tireless lobbying of Sarah Hale editor of Godey’s Lady’s Book, President Lincoln declared the last Thursday in November as a day of national Thanksgiving. After much resistance, the “Yankee holiday” spread south. By then it was firmly rooted in the legend of the First Thanksgiving.
Professor of History David J. Silverman is an expert in Native American history and author of multiple books on the subject. in This Land Is Their Land: The Wampanoag Indians, Plymouth Colony, and the Troubled History of Thanksgiving he sheds light on the First Thanksgiving,
“Though Americans eventually assumed that the Thanksgiving holiday and myth had marched together in an unknown succession since 1621, those traditions were very much products of white Protestants, particularly northerners…”
Silverman writes that by 1621 disease brought by European settlers had decimated the Plymouth Wampanoag. The tribe also faced threats from their rivals, the Narragansett. Ousamequin forged a “mutual defense pact” with the pilgrims out of necessity. Yes, there was a celebratory feast. But the following decades were fraught with escalating violence between Native tribes and the Pilgrims.
A Journal Of Pilgrims At Plymouth, Referenced By Frank James
Mourt’s Relation: A Journal of the Pilgrims at Plymouth, 1622 offers a first-hand detailed account of events from the Pilgrims landing at Cape Cod, to their exploration of the area and eventual settlement at Plymouth. The accounts are slanted in a positive light to persuade investors and other Pilgrims to journey to America. Edward Winslow penned most of the journal between November 1620 and November 1621. It is commonly believed that William Bradford wrote most of the first section.
Winslow writes about positive relations that the English colonists developed with the native Wampanoag. But he also describes a successful assault on another tribe. The work concludes with a with a nearly blissful retelling of the first Thanksgiving as a pitch for new settlers to join their colony.
According to Winslow, the feast was to celebrate the settlement’s first successful harvest, probably held around October 1621. The Wampanoags allowed the Pilgrims to live on their land, provided them with aid and taught them how to grow native crops. But they were not invited to this First Thanksgiving celebration.
When the Pilgrims shot their guns into the air presumably in gratitude, the Wampanoags thought they were under siege. Their leader, Massasoit, brought 90 warriors prepared for battle. Finding the Pilgrims in the midst of a multi-day celebration, they stayed. They offered five deer as their contribution.
Despite the rosy sheen, it is likely that this First Thanksgiving gathering had much underlying tension. The Wampanoags had been dealing with European voyagers intermittently since at least 1524, often with disastrous consequences including bloodshed, disease and slavery.
The full hypertext version edited by Caleb Johnson can be read at the The Plymouth Colony Archive Project.
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