Thanksgiving is a great holiday, it gives us a reason to reflect on our lives. We have a chance to see all of the positives the past year has brought and it allows us to give thanks alongside the ones we love. In grade school, we as a nation were taught that the Pilgrims at Plymouth Rock and the Native Americans came together to have a peaceful meal and gave thanks. As time went on, I have heard about many different stories that tell us otherwise, and the evidence is convincing. Even as a child, in grade school I never fully grasped what my teachers were telling us, something just did not add up. I decided to do my own research about Thanksgiving and now things are beginning to make more sense.
As a child I was well aware that I was different; my name was different, my hair was different, my skin was different, my family was different. As a result, I felt that the whites, (Pilgrims) and the colored, (Native Americans) having a meal together was very hard to believe. However, learning more about the context during that “First Thanksgiving,” helped to make more sense of the real story. Before I continue, this was not the “First” Thanksgiving, as we were told. There is evidence that shows that these types of gatherings took place more than once a year, and actually involved fasting to give thanks to the Almighty. Don’t take my word for it go look it up. In 1621, the Pilgrims were outnumbered by the Native Americans, 50 to 90. The personal accounts during the 1621 Thanksgiving, did not show any signs that would affect how we celebrate Thanksgiving today. The Pilgrims were celebrating their harvest, and the Native Americans did the hunting for the 3 day feast. The Pilgrims clearly did not have the upper hand over the Native Americans, they were higher in numbers, and they knew the land much better. After finding these answers, I was only left with more questions.
Despite this friendly exchange between the Pilgrims and the Native Americans, there was still a genocide, known as the Indian Massacre of 1622. Why is it that in grade school this fact was conveniently left out? I also found that the Native Americans were the ones to blame when it came to the cause of the genocide. They say that the Natives came to sell goods and they were UNARMED, but they grabbed anything they could find and started to kill the English settlers. 347 settlers were killed on this day. This does not make any sense to me, what could they possibly be selling goods in exchange for? The Native Americans have been on this land for hundreds of years and did not need the assistance of the English settlers. If they came with the intent to kill, why did they come unarmed? Furthermore, how do you kill 347 people if you are UNARMED? If the “First Thanksgiving” was as peaceful as they were telling us in school, why was it that less than 6 months later the English settlers felt the need to kill the Native Americans? This story was clearly written by the English settlers to justify their actions.
To complicate things even more, (You are quite welcome) what about slavery, scientific racism, and the Jim Crow laws? This history is much more recent and cannot be questioned to the same extent as Thanksgiving. If people in the 1950’s, only 70 years ago, had a problem with drinking from the same water fountain as a colored person, then how does it make sense that the Pilgrims, 393 years ago, had no issues sharing an ENTIRE 3 day feast with a group of colored Native Americans? Does the story of the Pilgrims and Indians suggest we got dumber? No, it does not, it’s just a story, that’s all it is, a story that does not make sense. We MAKE-UP stories to keep everyone entertained. We throw in a few moralistic attributes to make the listener feel as though they are gaining something from the story. In the case of the Thanksgiving story, we are gaining the virtue of being thankful and learning how to coexist with people from different backgrounds. The events of 1621 may be true, but where is the evidence? The Indian Massacre of 1622 does not offer such evidence, nor does the hundreds of years of slavery and segregation that followed.
Looking at these events does not change anything. Generations to come will continue to celebrate thanksgiving no matter what is said about it. We weren’t there and we will never really know what happened in the past. There is a difference between the “past” and “history.” The past is what actually happened, while history is the story that the winner wants you to believe. History gets manifested by whoever has the money to commision the writers to write what “the money” wants. Money talks. Our history books and the teachers that HAVE to teach us these events, are being paid by that same money. They should teach the students both sides of the story so that they can come to their own conclusion, simply supply the facts. Thanksgiving has nothing to do with the Native Americans. The celebration was derived from a religious holiday that has morphed into what we know today. The idea of this “peaceful” exchange between the Pilgrims and Native Americans, is just the means by which “the money” tries to cover up their mistakes. The Thanksgiving story is one such method to cover something up. The Pilgrims invited the Natives to the feast, this shows the reader that the Pilgrims were the nice ones. Killing hundreds if not thousands of Natives, for no reason was what “the money” wanted to cover up. “The money” was able to turn the reason for the massacre back on to the Natives by saying the reason they killed all of them was because THEY attacked first.
Despite the lies that surround Thanksgiving day, it is our job to unravel the stories and remember what this day has come to mean for us and our families. Whatever story “the money” is telling to save THEIR a$$, does not get to dictate the reason we celebrate Thanksgiving. There are Native American groups around the U.S. that honor and remember the many lives that were lost during this time in “American” history. Knowing this past is important, but there is nothing we can do to “fix” it, all we can do is learn from it, and hope for a better future. So be grateful for what you have now, be merry, and enjoy a meal with those you love and love you back. 
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