![]() The Indians were Wampanoags, led by Ousamequin (often called Massasoit, which was a leadership title rather than a name). #Origin of thanksgiving fullIt was a party, not a prayer, and was full of people shooting at things. The first Thanksgiving was not a “thanksgiving,” in Pilgrim terms, but a “rejoicing.” An actual giving of thanks required fasting and quiet contemplation a rejoicing featured feasting, drinking, militia drills, target practice, and contests of strength and speed. A good time was had by all, before things quietly took their natural course: the American colonies expanded, the Indians gave up their lands and faded from history, and the germ of collective governance found in the Mayflower Compact blossomed into American democracy.Īlmost none of this is true, as David Silverman points out in “This Land Is Their Land: The Wampanoag Indians, Plymouth Colony, and the Troubled History of Thanksgiving” (Bloomsbury). #Origin of thanksgiving how toThe local Indians, supporting characters who generously pulled the Pilgrims through the first winter and taught them how to plant corn, joined the feast with gifts of venison. Adorned in funny hats, large belt buckles, and clunky black shoes, the Pilgrims of Plymouth gave thanks to God for his blessings, demonstrated by the survival of their fragile settlement. Is it any wonder that by the time the holiday arrives a lot of American Indian people are thankful that autumn is nearly over?Īmericans have been celebrating Thanksgiving for nearly four centuries, commemorating that solemn dinner in November, 1621. Cap the season off with Thanksgiving, a turkey dinner, and a fable of interracial harmony. If today’s teachers aim for less pageantry and a slightly more complicated history, many students still complete an American education unsure about the place of Native people in the nation’s past-or in its present. In the elementary-school curriculum, the holiday traditionally meant a pageant, with students in construction-paper headdresses and Pilgrim hats reënacting the original celebration. November brings Native American Heritage Month and tracks a smooth countdown to Thanksgiving. Next up is Halloween, typically featuring “Native American Brave” and “Sexy Indian Princess” costumes. Football season is in full swing, and the team in the nation’s capital revels each week in a racist performance passed off as “just good fun.” As baseball season closes, one prays that Atlanta (or even semi-evolved Cleveland) will not advance to the World Series. There are the cool nights and warm days of Indian summer and the genial query “What’s Indian about this weather?” More wearisome is the annual fight over the legacy of Christopher Columbus-a bold explorer dear to Italian-American communities, but someone who brought to this continent forms of slavery that would devastate indigenous populations for centuries. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |