The truth about the first Thanksgiving

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The truth about the first Thanksgiving

• A
• History
• Mystery!

2
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 successful harvest 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, so therefore 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.
lthttp//jama.ama-assn.org/issues/v278n5/fpdf/jsc70
44.pdfgt .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 it necessary 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 the first Thanksgiving
through the eyes of Squanto...
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Some Context
For decades before the Pilgrims 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 the native New
  England population.

Whole towns were depopulated. The living were
not able to bury the dead 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 Pilgrims
arrived they had to start from scratch
After landing, the Pilgrims chose to live near
beautiful cleared fields, recently panted corn,
and ...fresh water.
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Indeed this beautiful land was already a town.
It was Squantos home village of Patuxet!

• Since the native peoples had died due to disease
  the Pilgrims moved right in, plundering and using
  native materials.

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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More importantly, the Pilgrims found Squanto, who
spoke English.
Squantos Story

• In 1605, Squanto was captured by a British
  captain during a summer fishing trip.

He was taken to England where he spent nine
years working, the last three for Captain Gorges
on his ship.
In 1614, a British slave raider seized Squanto
and some fellow Indians and sold them into
slavery in Spain
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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
  the New World.

In the fall of 1621 the colonists and several
natives 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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Jim Lowen has described the idea of the First
Thanksgiving as our national origin myth
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
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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
Talk Amongst Yourselves What does it say about
us as a nation that we persist on this imagery of
the first thanksgiving even though historians
have discovered an alternative account?
Quotes and history cited from James Lowen, Lies
My Teacher Told Me