Day of Thanks or Day of Mourning?

Images of the first Thanksgiving typically involve happy Pilgrims in buckle shoes and tall black hats, cheerfully passing the mashed potatoes and pumpkin pie to grinning Indians with feathers in their braided hair. The reality is far from that.The first Thanksgiving occurred in 1621. Unlike the current date, which is the fourth Thursday on November, it would have been held after the harvest, sometime between late September and early November and lasted for three days. It was not called Thanksgiving. To the Puritans, a day of thanksgiving was a religious event, not a secular event. The feasting, dancing and games enjoyed that day would not have been allowed during a Puritan religious observance. Another misconception of the first Thanksgiving involves the menu. The typical menu of turkey as a main course, mashed potatoes, stuffing and apple pie does not mirror the menu at the first feast. The main course was probably venison, from five deer provided by the natives. Other dishes included boiled lobster, wild fowl, including turkey, goose and swan, pumpkin, beans, dried fruit and corn, unsweetened cranberry sauce and wheat pudding. Dishes that were not at the feast include pumpkin pie, as the settlers did not have flour and potatoes of any sort, as they were believed to be poisonous.The clothing traditionally associated with Pilgrims is vastly different from what they actually wore. Pilgrims are pictured dressed all in black, with tall hats and buckled shoes. Their clothing was colored with vegetable dyes, which are rarely black. Typical colors would have been red, earthy greens, blue, violet and grey for woman, white beige, earthy green and brown for the men and blue, yellow or red for children. They did not wear buckles on their hats, shoes, or belts. Hats were generally knitted caps or hats made of animal hides. The tradition of Thanksgiving celebrations did not start in 1621, as it was not continued in following years. In fact, in the years following the feast, relations between the colonists and the Natives disintegrated into the bloody King Philips War during which one in ten fighters on each side were killed. The aftermath was devastating to the Natives, with many being sold into slavery overseas or forced into local servitude. In 1970, the Wampanoag tribe leader Wamsutta Frank B. James was invited by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts to give a Thanksgiving speech. The speech contained a statement of anger at the history of oppression of the Native people. Upon learning of the speech’s contents, organizers rescinded the invitation. This led to the first Day of Mourning, which the Wampanoag people observed on Coles Hill, that overlooks Plymouth Rock. The United American Indians of New England (UAINE) organizes events in Plymouth, Ma. every year on the fourth Thursday in November to remember “the genocide of millions of Natives, the theft of Native lands and the assault on Native culture”. As millions of Americans stuff themselves silly, then relax in their recliners and watch football, few will give much thought to the Natives Americans or the first feast, though for thousands of Native Americans, Thanksgiving Day will forever symbolize the oppression and destruction brought by the colonists.