What Do You Think of the Real Story of Thanksgiving???

Thanksgiving It's True History!!!



By: Julia White

(Research materials were given to me by Terye Gonzalez, Apache, on the

history of our Thanksgiving traditions. Thank you, Terye, for your

contributions to understanding history and tradition.)

As history teaches us, the greatest conflicts and the bloodiest wars

throughout time have been waged because of belief systems and

boundaries. We can trace this from the Crusades and the Spanish

Inquisition through Hitler to the "ethnic cleansing" now going on around the world. This mentality does not tolerate differing political, social and

religious beliefs, and it does not hesitate to sieze another's land and property if it suits a purpose.

It was the custom in European countries to mark the boundaries of land

with fences ranging from palisades to low rock walls. Once word spread

throughout Europe and Spain about this wonderful land called The

Americas, which was wild, untamed and unclaimed, this new territory

became a safe haven for outlaws, prisoners, exiles, and the radical element

of politics, social structure and religious practices - the violent and the

non-conformists.

Even though the first explorers and early settlers had been warned about

the heathen savages found in the "New World", they found the First

Peoples of this land curious about these strange people, and more than

willing to teach them how to survive and live well in their new

surroundings. The flow of people into this country was slow in the

beginning and, even though there was the occasional hothead among the

newcomers, life was generally a peaceful co-existence for almost 150 years.

However, as the trickle of settlers turned into a steady river, the

atmosphere began to change. In 1614, a band of English explorers had

landed in the vicinity of Massachusetts Bay. When they returned home,

they took with them Native slaves they had captured, and left smallpox

behind. By the time the Puritan pilgrims sailed the Mayflower into southern Massachusetts Bay, entire nations of New England Natives were already

extinct, having been totally exterminated by smallpox.

The Puritans were religious radicals being driven into exile out of England.

Since their story is well known, I will not repeat it here. They settled and

built a colony which they called the "Plymouth Plantation", near the ruins

of a former Native village of the Pawtuxet Nation. Only one Pawtuxet had

survived, a man named Squanto, who had spent time as a slave to the

English. Since he understood the language and customs of the Puritans, he

taught them to use the corn growing wild from the abandoned fields of the

village, taught them to fish, and about the foods, herbs and fruits of this

land. Squanto also negotiated a peace treaty between the Puritans and the

Wampanoag Nation, a very large Native nation which totally surrounded

the new Plymouth Plantation. Because of Squanto's efforts, the Puritans

enjoyed almost 15 years of peaceful harmony with the surrounding Natives, and they prospered.

At the end of their first year, the Puritans held a great feast following the

harvest of their new farming efforts. The feast honored Squanto and their

friends, the Wampanoags. The feast was followed by 3 days of

"thanksgiving" celebrating their good fortune. This feast produced the image of the first Thanksgiving that we all grew up with as children. However,

things were doomed to change.

Until approximately 1629, there were only about 300 Puritans living in

widely scattered settlements around New England. As word leaked back to

England about their peaceful and prosperous life, more Puritans arrived by

the boatloads. As the numbers of Puritans grew, the question of ownership

of the land became a major issue. The Puritans came from the belief of

individual needs and prosperity, and had no concept of tribal living, or

group sharing. It was clear that these heathen savages had no claim on the

land because it had never been subdued, cultivated and farmed in the

European manner, and there were no fences or other boundaries marked.

The land was clearly "public domain", and there for the taking. This

attitude met with great resistance from the original Puritans who held their

Native benefactors in high regard. These first Puritan settlers were

summarily excommunicated and expelled from the church.

With Bible passages in their hands to justify their every move, the Puritans

began their march inland from the seaside communities. Joined by British

settlers, the seized land, took the strong and young Natives as slaves to

work the land, and killed the rest. When they reached the Connecticut

Valley around 1633, they met a different type of force. The Pequot Nation, very large and very powerful, had never entered into the peace treaty

negotiated by Squanto as had other New England Native nations. When 2

slave raiders were killed by resisting Natives, the Puritans demanded that

the killers be turned over. The Pequot refused. What followed was the

Pequot War, the bloodiest of the Native wars in the northeast.

An army of over 200 settlers was formed, joined by over 1,000

Narragansett warriors. Because of the lack of fighting experience, and the

vast numbers of the fierce Pequot warriors, Commander John Mason

elected not to stage an open battle. Instead, the Pequot were attacked, one

village at a time, in the hours before dawn. Each village was set on fire with its sleeping Natives burned alive. Women and children over 14 were

captured to be sold as slaves; other survivors were massacred. The Natives

were sold into slavery in The West Indies, the Azures, Spain, Algiers and

England; everywhere the Puritan merchants traded. The slave trade was so

lucrative that boatloads of 500 at a time left the harbors of New England.

In 1641, the Dutch governor of Manhattan offered the first scalp bounty; a

common practice in many European countries. This was broadened by the

Puritans to include a bounty for Natives fit to be sold for slavery. The

Dutch and Puritans joined forces to exterminate all Natives from New

England, and village after village fell. Following an especially successful raid against the Pequot in what is now Stamford, Connecticut, the churches of

Manhattan announced a day of "thanksgiving" to celebrate victory over the

heathen savages. This was the 2nd Thanksgiving. During the feasting, the

hacked off heads of Natives were kicked through the streets of Manhattan

like soccer balls.

The killing took on a frenzy, with days of thanksgiving being held after

each successful massacre. Even the friendly Wampanoag did not escape.

Their chief was beheaded, and his head placed on a pole in Plymouth,

Massachusetts -- where it remained for 24 years. Each town held

thanksgiving days to celebrate their own victories over the Natives until it

became clear that there needed to be an order to these special occasions. It

was George Washington who finally brought a system and a schedule to

thanksgiving when he declared one day to be celebrated across the nation

as Thanksgiving Day.

It was Abraham Lincoln who decreed Thanksgiving Day to be a legal

national holiday during the Civil War -- on the same day and at the same

time he was ordering troops to march against the Sioux in Minnesota .....

(and subsequently ordered 38 Santee Sioux hung on christmas Eve for leaving the reservation in search of food...the promised supplies having never materialized)

In our society, it is not uncommon for our modern celebrations to have

arisen from black and evil beginnings. Over the centuries, Thanksgiving has become a special day to join with loved ones in an offering of thanks for

our blessings. Some give of their time to help with the homeless and the

hungry. It is now a day of giving, and of honor, and of true thanksgiving. I

do not mean to diminish that.

In your Thanksgivings to come, I would ask that you offer a silent prayer

for the spirits of those who were sacrificed so long ago. You and I did not

commit these atrocities, and we are certainly not responsible for the

behavior of our ancestors be they red, white, black or yellow. However, we are charged with the responsibility of learning our true history, and of

having the courage to behave with honor and dignity toward our fellow

man. Remember that, if the lessons of history are not learned, they will

surely repeat themselves. The todays and tomorrows of history are ours to

shape. Shape them carefully.

What Do You Think of the Real Story of Thanksgiving???
Thank you Brother for this great information. Yes, we should learn from mistakes but some people never learn because they are not willing to see or hear the truth.
Reply:I think it's way too long for me to read
Reply:Holy Sh*t!



I like that story, it left out nothing. Total truth. This should be taught in elementary schools across the nation so that kids do not grow up under the belief of the fairy tale they teach us regarding Thanksgiving or any other holidays etc..
Reply:Thanks my brother!!! Did you hear Bobby Hill call it "Takesgiving"???
Reply:I saw that on tv.
Reply:I think they call that an eye opener