Thanksgiving Day: Another Day of Shame

Several years ago I recall watching an episode of Roseanne where Roseanne Barr's character was watching a school play featuring her son, DJ, played by Michael Fishman, on Thanksgiving Day. As the parents watch the play unfold they witness the Pilgrims invite the “Indians” to join them for a meal. Afterward the Pilgrims grab their guns and open fire, killing all of the “Indians.” The children fall down as they're riddled with the imaginary gun fire. After this, the play comes to an end and the teacher walks out from behind the curtain on stage. He turns out to be a Native American and he goes on to tell Roseanne about the real first Thanksgiving.*

I would imagine that most people know what actually happened on Thanksgiving Day and I wonder what many americans think about it. On the other hand, most may not since history is whitewashed in today's history books. The familiar tale has the Pilgrims asking the Native Americans to sit down with them for their feast in a display of friendship, however what they don't tell you is it was actually the other way around. The Natives had to teach the Pilgrims how to grow their own food and when they first arrived the Pilgrims stole food from the Natives and received guidance from them in order to survive. The Pilgrims even dug up the Natives' graves and stole the belongings that were buried with the deceased. Of course, all this you most likely wouldn't learn from your standard “history” books that are more often than not tainted with ethnocentrism.

Like many other abuses throughout history, such as slavery and the murder of abortion doctors, the bible was also used to justify the theft of land and the murder of the Natives. Howard Zinn writes,

The Puritans also appealed to the Bible, Psalms 2:8: “Ask of me, and I shall give thee, the heathen for thine inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for thy possession.” And to justify their use of force to take the land, they cited Romans 13:2: “Whosoever therefore resisteth the power, resisteth the ordinance of God: and they that resist shall receive to themselves damnnation.” [1]

In 1970 the Massachusetts Department of Commerce asked the Wampanoags to choose a speaker to mark the 350th anniversary of the Pilgrams' landing. Frank James “was selected, but first he had to show a copy of his speech to the white people in charge of the ceremony. When they saw what he had written, they would not allow him to read it.” [2] What follows is James' speech.

Today is a time of celebrating for you...but it is not a time of celebration for me. It is with heavy heart that I look back upon what happened to my People... The Pilgrims had hardly explored the shores of Cape Cod four days before they had robbed the graves of my ancestors, and stolen their corn, wheat, and beans... Massasoit, the great leader of the Wampanoag, knew these facts; yet he had his People welcomed and befriended the settlers...., little knowing that... before 50 years were to pass, the Wampanoags... and other Indians living near the settlers would be killed by their guns or dead from diseases that we caught from them.... Although our way of life is almost gone and our language is almost extinct, we the Wampanoags still walk the lands of Massachusetts... What has happened cannot be changed, but today we work toward a better America, a more Indian America where people and nature once again are important. [3] [4]

When you sit down with your family and friends today I hope you will at least take a moment to remember what actually happened this day and mourn the innocent people whose lives, food, and land were forcibly taken from them. While you can be thankful for whatever you'd like please also take a moment to remember those who lived here before and who were slaughtered by many of our ancestors.


1. A People's History of the United States: 1492-Present, by Howard Zinn, Harper Perennial, 2005; 14

2. Lies My Teacher Told Me: Everything Your American History Textbook Got Wrong, by James W. Loewen, The New Press, 1995; 87

3. Ibid.; 87-88

4. This is Frank James' entire speech. (accessed 11-21-11)


* It's been a number of years since I saw this particular episode and I can't recall all the details but I think it's pretty accurate.


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