The Wampanoag & the Thanksgiving Myth

In Autumn of 1621, a group of Pilgrims from the Mayflower voyage and Wampanoag men, led by their sachem Massasoit, ate a feast together. The existence of that meal, which held little importance to either the Pilgrims or the Wampanoag, is the basis of the Thanksgiving myth. The myth, re-told in school Thanksgiving pageants and TV shows, is not accurate and is harmful to Native people, especially to the Wampanoag.

In 1970, the Commonwealth of Massachusetts planned a banquet to celebrate the 350th anniversary of the landing of the Pilgrims. They asked an Aquinnah Wampanoag man, Frank James, also known as Wamsutta, to speak at the banquet. However, when they learned what he was planning to say, the true history, they forbade his speech. Frank James would not give a speech that they rewrote, and instead he planned the first National Day of Mourning on Cole’s Hill in Plymouth. Fifty one years later the United American Indians of New England still meet at noon on Cole’s Hill on the US Thanksgiving Holiday to remember the genocide of Native people and the theft of Native lands and erasure of Native culture.

Joining me to help us learn more about the Wampanoag and the dangers of the Thanksgiving myth is Kisha James, enrolled Aquinnah Wampanoag, one of the organizers of the National Day of Mourning, and granddaughter of Frank James.

Our theme song is Frogs Legs Rag, composed by James Scott and performed by Kevin MacLeod, licensed under Creative Commons. The episode image is “Massasoit and His Warriors,” 1857. Photograph in the LIbrary of Congress.

Buy Indigenous:

• Kisha’s thread of Indigenous businesses
• Information about the The Indian Arts and Crafts Act of 1990

Suggested Organization for Donations:

• North American Indian Center of Boston
• United American Indians of New England
• Lakota Kidz

Selected Sources:

• “Wampanoag History,” Wampanoag Tribe of Gay Head (Aquinnah)
• “The Myths of the Thanksgiving Story and the Lasting Damage They Imbue” by Claire Bugos, Smithsonian Magazine, November 26, 2019
• 1621: A New Look at Thanksgiving by Catherine Grace
• This Land Is Their Land: The Wampanoag Indians, Plymouth Colony, and the Troubled History of Thanksgiving by David J. Silverman
• “Everything You Learned About Thanksgiving Is Wrong By Maya Salam, The New York Times, Nov. 21, 2017
• “History of King Philip’s War,” by Rebecca Beatrice Books, History of Massachusetts Blog, May 31, 2017.

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