Bonus: The Truth of the First Thanksgiving

CW: Death, Oppression, Enslavement

Hey, folks! This week, we’re not doing a true episode due to some Thanksgiving travel by a few of us, so Remy is going to talk about the true history behind the first Thanksgiving. The myth of the first Thanksgiving is largely filled with inaccuracies, half-truths, or flat out lies, and we never get to hear things from the Indiginous perspective. Well, Remy, having quite a bit of Indiginous ancestry, wanted to give you all some historical truth and events from the Native side as well as some resources if you’re looking to learn more. 

In our opening link, we open up to a basic rundown of the even considered to be the first Thanksgiving. It’s not a deep read, but if you just want the quick facts, this is the link for you.

And this link talks about some archaeological research that has been done to find not only physical evidence of a Thanksgiving meal but to show that there was a meal before the one considered the first.

And here’s an account of the first Thanksgiving from the Wampanoag side of things including some links to other sources and quotes.

If you’re looking for further reading, this book is great. It’s written by David Silverman, a professor of Native American, Colonial American, and American Racial History at George Washington University. It is a “Native-centered narrative of the English invasion of New England” that “vividly contextualizes the fabled first Thanksgiving, placing Native diplomacy and actions at the very center of the story, along with the warfare, dispossession, and struggle for sovereignty that was very much part of the longer aftermath of first contact.”

This link from the Smithsonian breaks down the myths about Thanksgiving that we hold onto in the present and why we still do.

Here is a video where you can learn about the Wampanoag culture as presented by members of that tribe. The video is presented from the Plimoth Patuxet Living History Museum.

This link will give you an enormous amount of information and external links on how to decolonize your Thanksgiving celebration, or at the very least, how to learn more and teach more about the history of it. It even includes resources for teachers like free lesson plans.