Thanksgiving Day traditions are changing. We continue to celebrate with gratitude good food, friendship, and our many blessings, but we are also becoming more aware of tragedies experienced by Native Americans. As we strive to uncover a more truthful story, we can continue to learn, lament, and find ways to heal. Here are some resources to explore the story of the Pilgrims, Wampanoag, and traditions of the first Thanksgiving.
Webinars from the Mayflower Society: 2024
November 14 at 7 PM EST- “The Journey to the Mayflower” with Stephen Tomkins- "...The sailing of the Mayflower was ...the culmination of a radical English religious movement. This is the story of that underground church, one of prison and killings, spies and subterfuge, theological controversy and sexual scandal, and the invention of religious freedom. Stephen Tomkins is a writer, broadcaster, editor and speaker, and the author of seven books. Zoom Webinar Link
November 21 at 7PM EST - “Squanto: A Native Odyssey” with Andrew Lipman- “Prize-winning historian Andrew Lipman explores the mysteries that still surround Squanto: How did he escape bondage and return home? Why did he help the English after an Englishman enslaved him? Why did he threaten Plymouth’s fragile peace with its neighbors? Was it true that he converted to Christianity on his deathbed? Drawing from a wide range of evidence and newly uncovered sources, Lipman reconstructs Squanto’s upbringing, transatlantic odyssey, career as an interpreter, surprising downfall, and enigmatic death.” Zoom Webinar Link
More information about Squanto: Squanto Timeline from “The History of Massachusetts Blog” with detailed information, images, and a video about Squanto’s experiences from about 1580-1622, including his life as is known before the arrival of the Pilgrims at Plymouth. (9/20/20)
November 14 at 7 PM EST- “The Journey to the Mayflower” with Stephen Tomkins- "...The sailing of the Mayflower was ...the culmination of a radical English religious movement. This is the story of that underground church, one of prison and killings, spies and subterfuge, theological controversy and sexual scandal, and the invention of religious freedom. Stephen Tomkins is a writer, broadcaster, editor and speaker, and the author of seven books. Zoom Webinar Link
November 21 at 7PM EST - “Squanto: A Native Odyssey” with Andrew Lipman- “Prize-winning historian Andrew Lipman explores the mysteries that still surround Squanto: How did he escape bondage and return home? Why did he help the English after an Englishman enslaved him? Why did he threaten Plymouth’s fragile peace with its neighbors? Was it true that he converted to Christianity on his deathbed? Drawing from a wide range of evidence and newly uncovered sources, Lipman reconstructs Squanto’s upbringing, transatlantic odyssey, career as an interpreter, surprising downfall, and enigmatic death.” Zoom Webinar Link
More information about Squanto: Squanto Timeline from “The History of Massachusetts Blog” with detailed information, images, and a video about Squanto’s experiences from about 1580-1622, including his life as is known before the arrival of the Pilgrims at Plymouth. (9/20/20)
Websites, Videos and Articles
Tasting History: The Real Story of the First Thanksgiving: Learn to make a venison stew, sobahag, along with some history about the Pilgrims and Wampanoag, their interactions, food, land, and language, Wopanaak, and its current reclamation
Plimouth/ Patuxet Museums:
1) Patuxet
2) Who are the Wampanoag?
3) The Wampanoag Religion was centered in Mother Earth from whom all good things came and they honored that belief in prayers, songs, dances, and holidays.
4) Wampanoag Women In the Plymouth area including two tribes led by women. Read more about the role of Wampanoag women, including leaders.
1) Patuxet
2) Who are the Wampanoag?
3) The Wampanoag Religion was centered in Mother Earth from whom all good things came and they honored that belief in prayers, songs, dances, and holidays.
4) Wampanoag Women In the Plymouth area including two tribes led by women. Read more about the role of Wampanoag women, including leaders.
American Ancestors article: “New England's Great Migration " by Lynn Betlock : Pilgrims (or Separatists) were mainly welcomed by the Wampanoag as allies in their relationships with other tribes until the death of Massasoit in 1661. The “Great Migration” of English Puritans to New England between 1629 and 1640 and their desire for land shattered that relationship. 2003
The Wampanoag Way: A Scholastic video from the museum with a reenactment of life for the Wampanoag focused on two young girls and other descendants of the tribe.
Eastham: The First Encounter: “Soon after the Mayflower arrived in Provincetown Harbor, the Pilgrims began to explore nearby places with a sometimes callous lack of courtesy and respect for the people who lived there.”
The New Yorker: “The Invention of Thanksgiving: Massacres, Myths and the Making of the Great November Holiday” by Phillip Deloria (11-18-2019)
The New Yorker: “The Invention of Thanksgiving: Massacres, Myths and the Making of the Great November Holiday” by Phillip Deloria (11-18-2019)
Ian Saxine’s Story of the “First Encounter”; Sunset Series coordinator Joanna Holleck (2020)
Books
1621: A New Look at Thanksgiving by Catherine O’Neill Grace and Margaret Bruchak; National Geographic (2001)
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This Land is Their Land; The Wampanoag Indians, Plymouth Colony, and the Troubled History of Thanksgiving, , by David Silverman; “400 years after that famous (“Thanksgiving’”) meal, historian David J. Silverman sheds profound new light on the events that led to the creation, and bloody dissolution, of this alliance. Focusing on the Wampanoag Indians, Silverman deepens the narrative to consider tensions that developed well before 1620 and lasted long after the devastating war-tracing the Wampanoags' ongoing struggle for self-determination up to this very day. " (2020)
Primary Resources written by the settlers and leaders of Plymouth
Here Shall I Die Ashore by Steven Hopkins; Bermuda Castaway, Jamestown Survivor, and Mayflower Pilgrim, 2007
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William Bradford's History of Plimoth Plantation: From the Original Manuscript, by William Bradford - Governor of Plymouth in 1621 (2010)
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Letter from Edward Winslow to a friend in England- 1621 (Governor of Plymouth later)
Letter from Edward Winslow to a friend in England- 1621 (Governor of Plymouth later)
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The Mayflower Compact
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We, whose names are underwritten,
the Loyal Subjects of our dread Sovereign Lord King James, by the Grace of God, of Great Britain, France, and Ireland, King, defender of the Faith, etc.: Having undertaken, for the Glory of God, and advancements of the Christian faith, and the honor of our King and Country, a voyage to plant the first colony in the Northern parts of Virginia; do by these presents, solemnly and mutually, in the presence of God, and one another; covenant and combine ourselves together into a civil body politic; for our better ordering, and preservation and furtherance of the ends aforesaid; and by virtue hereof to enact, constitute, and frame, such just and equal laws, ordinances, acts, constitutions, and offices, from time to time, as shall be thought most meet and convenient for the general good of the colony; unto which we promise all due submission and obedience. In witness whereof we have hereunto subscribed our names at Cape Cod the 11th of November, in the year of the reign of our Sovereign Lord King James, of England, France, and Ireland, the eighteenth, and of Scotland the fifty-fourth, Anno Domini 1620. |
Reflection From Karen Lemes (October 22, 2022)
Our Appreciation for the Mayflower Compact:
November 11, 2022 is the 402nd Anniversary of the Mayflower Compact.
The 102 Pilgrims had sailed from England for over two months when they arrived at Cape Cod on the coast of America. Half the Mayflower passengers were religious settlers from Holland. They had been joined in London by families looking for economic opportunity, including their indentured servants.
The Pilgrims’ charter gave them permission to settle farther south, but due to the danger of the trip and the lateness of the year, they decided to find a place to settle on Cape Cod. Some stated that they were not legally authorized to settle on Cape Cod, so they could leave after landing. The Mayflower Compact was created to establish a government when they landed. Men from the “Saints,” the religious settlers, and the “Strangers,” the economic settlers, including two indentured servants, signed this document.
The Mayflower Compact is based on the way the Pilgrims’ church was governed, a vote for every man to elect officers and to make decisions and laws.
During the commemoration of the 300th anniversary of the Mayflower landing, Governor Calvin Coolidge, who became President a few years later, stated the following in an address:
The compact which they signed was an event of the greatest importance. It was the foundation of liberty based on law and order, and that tradition has been steadily upheld. They drew up a form of government which has been designated as the first real constitution of modern times. It was democratic, an acknowledgment of liberty under law and order and the giving to each person the right to participate in the government, while they promised to be obedient to the laws.
But the really wonderful thing was that they had the power and strength of character to abide by it and live by it from that day to this. Some governments are better than others. But any form of government is better than anarchy, and any attempt to tear down government is an attempt to wreck civilization. From Wikipedia.
We celebrate the courage, hard work, intelligence, and good will displayed by the Pilgrims as well as their friendship with their Wampanoag neighbors when we gather at Thanksgiving each year. May these qualities be revealed in our lives also.
Our Appreciation for the Mayflower Compact:
November 11, 2022 is the 402nd Anniversary of the Mayflower Compact.
The 102 Pilgrims had sailed from England for over two months when they arrived at Cape Cod on the coast of America. Half the Mayflower passengers were religious settlers from Holland. They had been joined in London by families looking for economic opportunity, including their indentured servants.
The Pilgrims’ charter gave them permission to settle farther south, but due to the danger of the trip and the lateness of the year, they decided to find a place to settle on Cape Cod. Some stated that they were not legally authorized to settle on Cape Cod, so they could leave after landing. The Mayflower Compact was created to establish a government when they landed. Men from the “Saints,” the religious settlers, and the “Strangers,” the economic settlers, including two indentured servants, signed this document.
The Mayflower Compact is based on the way the Pilgrims’ church was governed, a vote for every man to elect officers and to make decisions and laws.
During the commemoration of the 300th anniversary of the Mayflower landing, Governor Calvin Coolidge, who became President a few years later, stated the following in an address:
The compact which they signed was an event of the greatest importance. It was the foundation of liberty based on law and order, and that tradition has been steadily upheld. They drew up a form of government which has been designated as the first real constitution of modern times. It was democratic, an acknowledgment of liberty under law and order and the giving to each person the right to participate in the government, while they promised to be obedient to the laws.
But the really wonderful thing was that they had the power and strength of character to abide by it and live by it from that day to this. Some governments are better than others. But any form of government is better than anarchy, and any attempt to tear down government is an attempt to wreck civilization. From Wikipedia.
We celebrate the courage, hard work, intelligence, and good will displayed by the Pilgrims as well as their friendship with their Wampanoag neighbors when we gather at Thanksgiving each year. May these qualities be revealed in our lives also.