|
The other side of the Thanksgiving story
By Stephanie H. Olsen
November 3, 2004 | For many Americans,
Thanksgiving is considered a happy time. Familie gather
for a mouth-watering dinner of moist turkey, seasoned
stuffing and homemade pumpkin pie.
Elementary school children bring home their construction
paper Pilgrims. And as they show them off with pride
they retell the story they learned of the first Thanksgiving.
But there are some Americans who do look with anticipation
for Thanksgiving. There are some who do not consider
it a beginning, but rather an ending.
Today the town of Plymouth is a tourist attraction,
complete with an annual Thanksgiving celebration. But
among the tourists are descendants of those who first
lived on the rocky coastline -- the Wampanoag Indians.
In 1970 one of them was asked to speak at the Thanksgiving
celebration to mark the 350th anniversary of the Pilgrims'
arrival.
Here is a portion of what was shared:
"Today is a time of celebrating for you -- a time
of looking back to the first days of white people in
America. But it is not a time of celebrating for me.
It is with a heavy heart that I look back upon what
happened to my People. When the Pilgrims arrived, we,
the Wampanoags, welcomed them 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 tribe. That we and other Indians living near the
settlers would be killed by their guns or dead from
diseases that we caught from them. Let us always remember,
the Indian is and was just as human as the white people."
The Wampanoag tribe wandered throughout what is now
Massachusetts and Rhode Island. They traveled so much
to obtain food. Their diet consisted of mostly of deer,
fish and corn. Their living quarters consisted of dome-
shaped huts made of wooden poles and flat sheets of
tree bark called wigwams.
Though most of the Pilgrims were farmers they could
not get their corn to grow in the rock soil and were
unprepared for the challenges. They would not have survived
if it had not been for an Indian named Squanto.
Fifteen years before the Pilgrims, arrived Squanto
was befriended by an English explorer named John Weymouth.
Squanto left his home and was eventually sold as a slave.
Once freed he made his way back to his home.
When he arrived he saw that the Pilgrims needed help
and eventually he offered it.
The Pilgrims wanted to continue their religious harvest
feast, and the Indians joined them for one of their
six feast celebrations held throughout the year.
More settlers began arriving, which brought strength
in numbers. Soon the simplicity of the Wampanoags' way
of life was forgotten. Tension began to grow and prejudices
increased, leaving a whole nation left to change life
as they knew it or be destroyed.
So, when the turkey is being carved this year, remember
the other side of the Thanksgiving story. Work toward
a better America, where those who are different can
live side by side in peace.
Sources:
http://pilgrims.net
http://www.2020tech.com/thanks
MS
MS |
