The Truth About Thanksgiving

8/8/2019 The Truth About Thanksgiving

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The truth about thefirst Thanksgiving

A

History

Mystery!


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Lets think about the basics of the

story of the first Thanksgiving The pilgrims land and are not prepared for

this new land

The American Indians, who were friendly,help them survive

The next year, learning from the natives,

The Pilgrims have a successfulharvest and celebrate the first

Thanksgiving


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Lets think about that first feast...

It would have looked very different from

our traditional feast today.

* First, there was no milk, sotherefore no butter

* There was little to no sugar, so no

berries* There were no ovens, so no

roasted turkey or pies

Christopher, George W. Biological Warfare; A Historical Perspective. Journal of the American Medical Association. 278.5 (1997):412-417. .December 6, 2002


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If all this is different from the historical myth...

Considering that virtually none of the standard fare

surrounding Thanksgiving contains an ounce of

authenticity, historical accuracy, or cross-cultural

perception, why is it so apparently ingrained? Is itnecessary to the American psyche to perpetually

exploit and debase its victims in order to justify its

history? - Michael Dorris

Then maybe other differences exist as well

Lets see by looking at thefirst Thanksgiving through

the eyes of Squanto...


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Some Context For decades before thePilgrims landed, British

and French fisherman

came to the coasts of

southern New England to

fish.

It is likely that they

brought some of their

European germs and

diseases to the New

World before any settlers.


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One wave of fisherman/New England

native contact occurred in 1617. Within

three years, disease had wiped out between

90% to 96% of thenativeNew England

population.

Whole towns were

depopulated. The living

were not able to bury thedead; and their bodies were

found lying above the

ground many years after.


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The pilgrims land in 1620

Although many textbooks say

that the pilgrims bribed their

captain to land in Massachusetts

and not Virginia, historical

sources find this difficult to

believe. The pilgrims were only

35 of the 102 passengers on the

ship, the others were ordinary

settlers.

Massachusetts was attractive to

the pilgrims and settlers alike for

one reason that Virginia was not

- few native peoples. They

might also have heard the area

described by Squanto ...


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WHAT? How could Squanto have described the land to

the European settlers and pilgrims in

Europe??!! Let start with the myth

that when the Pilgrimsarrived they had to

start from scratch

After landing, the Pilgrims chose tolive near beautiful cleared fields,

recently panted corn, and ...fresh

water.


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Since the native peoples had died due to disease; the

Pilgrims moved right in, plundering and using native

materials.

Indeed this beautiful land was already a

town. It was Squantos home village of

Patuxet!

One colonial sailors account noted that we found

a place like a grave. We decided to dig it up. We

found first a mat, and under that a fine bowwe

also found bowls, trays, dishes, and things like

that. We took away several of the prettiest things

to carry away with us

It wasnt like a grave -

it was a grave!


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Squantos Story II

Squanto eventually escaped from Spain and made his

way back to England.

He then traveled to Newfoundland, and in 1619

convinced Captain Tomas Dermer to take him back

to New England on his next fishing trip.

Squanto returned to his village to find that

he was the sole member of his village still

alive.

All the others had perished in the

epidemic.


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As sociologist/historian, Jim Lowen has noted No

wonder Squanto threw in his lot with the pilgrims!

Like the traditional history, it

seems that Squanto helped the

colonist learn to survive in theNew World.

In the fall of 1621 the

colonists and severalnatives sat down to

several days of feasting

and thanksgiving to God.


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Many sources note that the pilgrims had

never seen such a feast

Of course, the Pilgrims had never seen such a

feast literally nearly all the foods were

indigenous to the Americans and had been

provided by help with the local natives


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Another interesting historical fact:

Thanksgiving did not exist as a

national holiday until the Civil War.

In 1863 Abraham Lincoln felt that

such an observance would boost

patriotism

Jim Lowen has described the idea of the First Thanksgivingas our national origin myth


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Talk Amongst Yourselves:

What does it say about us

as a nation that we persist

on this imagery of the first

thanksgiving even thoughhistorians have discovered

an alternative account?

Remember the quote from the beginning of

this presentation- Why is this idea of

thanksgiving so ingrained?

Is it necessary to the American psyche to

perpetually exploit and debase its victims in

order to justify its history?- Michael Dorris

Quotes and history cited from JamesLowen, Lies My Teacher Told Me

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The Truth About Thanksgiving

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