Tag Archives: edward winslow

BIPOC, National

400 years after the “first Thanksgiving” the Wampanoags are finally being heard

[SEATTLE, Wash.] – (MTN) Despite COVID cases increasing in 31 states, millions of Americans will come together on Thursday to celebrate Thanksgiving. Established as a national holiday by the Roosevelt administration in 1941 to aid in economic recovery and boost morale as the nation came out of the grips of the Great Depression, the contemporary version of Thanksgiving Americans celebrate, bears little resemblance to its namesake feast attended by pilgrims and Wampanoags in New England in the early 17th century.

In a recent Washington Post article detailing Wampanoag feelings about Thanksgiving four centuries later, Mashpee Wampanoag Cultural Outreach Coordinator, Darius Coombs, stated: “For us, Thanksgiving kicked off colonization.” English settler-colonization produced devastating consequences for Indigenous peoples throughout the nation. It introduced deadly diseases, stripped Native peoples of their ancestral lands, aimed to eliminate Indigenous culture, and worked to erase any evidence of violence and genocide from its history.

The whitewashed version of the Thanksgiving myth told at dinner tables and at schools across the nation that portrays the relationship between pilgrims and Wampanoags as peaceful and reciprocal erases the dispossession and genocide of the Indigenous nations of the Northeast and other Native peoples that soon followed.

Indigenous peoples along the New England coast had already negotiated a series of encounters with Europeans by the time pilgrims reached Plymouth in 1620. Aside from encounters with the French, Spanish, and Dutch, Native peoples witnessed a failed English settlement attempt at Roanoke in the late 16th century and the establishment of the Jamestown colony in Virginia in 1607. Apart from Jamestown, most Europeans were temporary nuisances for Native peoples, as colonists often extracted resources and labor in service of the metropole—or home colony—before returning to their homeland. The English, however, never intended to leave, but rather to become permanent residents. This introduced a new and detrimental form of colonization Native peoples had yet to encounter.

While traditional colonialism generally resulted in temporary invasions, English settler colonialism had entirely different aims. As historian Patrick Wolfe explained, settler colonialism is a “structure, not an event,” whereby settler colonizers develop lasting institutions predicated on the elimination of Native peoples. Little did the Wampanoag know that the beleaguered visitors that reached their shores in early November of 1620 planned to stay.

Pilgrims reached the northeast at a time when Wampanoags experienced significant turmoil that included crippling waves of diseases introduced through contact with Europeans. Diseases dramatically decreased Wampanoag numbers and left the remaining population vulnerable to more powerful Native polities in the region, such as the Narragansett to the West. Wampanoag leader Massasoit, much to the chagrin of his people took a “wait and see” approach with the newcomers and hoped to create an alliance that offered a degree of mutual protection. With Tisquantum—a Wampanoag man who learned to speak English during his time as a captive—acting as a liaison, Massasoit hesitantly brokered an arrangement with pilgrims that later came back to not only haunt him but Native peoples for generations to come.

In the initial stages of this alliance, power swayed in the Wampanoag’s favor. As historian Colin Calloway notes, Europeans often depended on Native peoples “for food, information, and assistance in finding their way,” as well as “adjusting to a new environment.”

This proved no different for English colonists—especially relative to the environment. New England winters were unlike anything colonists experienced in their homeland. In fact, during their first winter at Plymouth, more than half of the pilgrim population died as a result of harsh conditions and resource scarcity. Thus, colonists were reliant on Indigenous people’s knowledge and hospitality to ensure their survival.

The fact colonists became dependent on Wampanoags is evidenced in a letter written in December of 1621 by Edward Winslow. Writing to a friend in England, Winslow noted how during the last spring colonists set “some twenty acres of Indian corn… and according to the manner of the Indians…manured our grounds with herrings.” Winslow also elaborated on colonists’ relations with Wampanoags, noting how they found them to be faithful allies and “often went to them” in times of need. Winslow’s letter goes on to demonstrate that during the early period of their relationship, the Wampanoags took on a paternal role: teaching pilgrims how to farm, gather food, and even hunt game in the wilderness—a place colonists often refused to go without the company of their Indigenous allies.

More interesting, though, are Winslow’s references to the first Thanksgiving. In this same letter, Winslow described the event that became a national myth as a “three-day feast attended by King Massasoit and some ninety men.” Winslow noted that Wampanoags “went out and killed five deer” for the feast “which they brought to the plantation and bestowed upon our governor, captain, and others.”

What Winslow detailed as a feast of celebration that included the Wampanoags and colonists leaves out one very important piece of information—pilgrims never intended to invite their Native allies to join in their festivities.

As many historians have documented, the Wampanoags only found out about the feast after colonists shot off rounds of celebratory gunfire. Concerned his allies might be in danger, Massasoit gathered many of his warriors and went to the colony to investigate. Upon arrival, colonists informed Massasoit they were celebrating a successful and bountiful harvest. In a demonstration of good faith and reciprocity, the Wampanoags gifted their English allies with five deer, which served as the focal point of the feast. Only after imparted these gifts upon their English friends, did colonists welcome their Native allies to join.

It is important to note that the celebration that became the root of the contemporary Thanksgiving myth would not have been possible without the Indigenous knowledge provided to colonists. And while the feast represents a cordial, yet unequal relationship between the two parties, English friendliness soon turned to hostility. The relationship once defined by coexistence ended, and a new relationship based on conflict and violence emerged.

Roughly five decades after the “first Thanksgiving” took place, an ever-growing population of colonists blatantly rejected the cordiality of their predecessors. By the late 1660s, Massasoit saw his people and territory shrink considerably—a consequence of the prolonged encounters between Native peoples and the English. Too old to continue in his position of leadership, Massasoit passed the torch to his son Metacomet, who is often referred to in the historical record by his English name “Philip.” Having grown weary of ongoing land encroachment and cultural destruction through religious conversion, Metacomet replaced friendliness with resistance, and in June of 1675, violent conflict broke out between Native peoples in the region and colonists that became known as “King Philips War.”

King Philips War lasted nearly three years and is recognized as “one of the bloodiest conflicts in American history.” This period of violence resulted in the destruction of numerous Native villages and the death of 2,500 English colonists equaling roughly thirty percent of the settler population. Native peoples in the region, however, failed to emerge victoriously.

Rather as violence and dispossession escalated, Metacomet watched as the English sold his wife and son into slavery in the Caribbean. Then, in an effort to deter further Indigenous resistance efforts, colonial leaders executed Metacomet. Viewing him as a “treacherous fiend who deserved a traitor’s death” the English quartered his body and cut off his head, placing it on a wooden pole at the entrance to Fort Plymouth where it remained for more than two decades. In the decades that followed, Native genocide exponentially increased as settler-colonists worked to dispossess Native peoples and gain control of valuable land and resources.

Despite this, Native peoples continue to find various ways to resist, rebuild, and heal from the generations of trauma settler colonization has produced. So, while many of us are actively and willingly participating in a reenactment of a tradition that has little basis in fact, Native peoples across the nation will reject the myth of Thanksgiving in favor of observing a day of mourning to reflect on all that they have lost—which all began with a friendly meal.

BIPOC, Non-Fiction

Special Report: Everything you think you know about Thanksgiving is wrong

Most of us envision a romantic portrayal of Thanksgiving. Pilgrims, seeking freedom, come to the new land, and in peaceful cooperation with the Native Americans carve out a hardscrabble life. After a good harvest in their first year, the Pilgrims invite the local Native Americans for a feast, everyone ate turkey, and all were happy — the end.

There is also a revisionist story to Thanksgiving that the creation of the holiday is a blood-soaked nightmare. After the massacre of Native Americans, it was celebrated annually with a big turkey dinner to give thanks for the divine providence to clear the land of heathens.

Neither of these narratives is correct, and the story lies somewhere between.

The Pilgrim’s trip was financed by business interests who would buy cash crops from the Pilgrims upon the establishment of a colony in the new world, somewhere in the vicinity of modern New York City, south of the 42nd parallel, along the New Jersey coast. The story of that hurricane and the Mayflower almost sinking? True.

The sailing of the Pilgrims was supposed to be on two ships, the Mayflower and the Speedwell. The Speedwell was an unseaworthy wreck and waiting to attempt to repair her resulted in the crossing happening at the height of hurricane season. Instead of 65 onboard, there were 130 along with sheep, dogs, chickens, and goats. The settlers would not have been allowed on deck, so would have spent most of their time in the foul, smoke-filled air, smelling of waste and bilge, in a rolling sea. If it sounds awful, you’re right, it was.

The story of the printing press being used to secure a cracked timber in the Mayflower? Sort of true. A tool called a jackscrew, which is similar in appearance, was used to save the ship.

When the Pilgrims finally landed, they had been blown hopelessly off course and landed on what is today Cape Cod, not Plymouth. They sent a shore excursion and found the native population hostile. The real story is that white traders and fishermen had been coming to the northeast coast for decades to trade, trap, fish, and take slaves.

Realizing they had blown off course and were north of the 42 parallel, they created the Mayflower Compact, a bit of a dubious agreement of self-government with loyalty to the King of England. It was the first Democracy in the new world.

The Mayflower sailed around Cape Cod looking for safe harbor, and they arrived off what is modern-day Plymouth. There is no Plymouth rock (sorry) that the Pilgrims stepped out on, and if there were, centuries of weather would have sent it up onto the shore or back out to the sea. A small party scouted the land, and much to their amazement, found it cleared, developed, and abandoned. They found signs that something catastrophic had happened to the local peoples, including dried corn and meats in crumbling longhouses, and some hurriedly dug graves. They saw this as divine providence that God had cleared this land for them.

What had happened was a great plague had swept North America in the late 1500s, killing about 90% of the population on the continent. It is one of the worst human population die-offs in the history of the world. The common belief is that early whites brought smallpox and other diseases to the land, but that doesn’t hold up to native accounts from countless tribes, including those who never made contact with the whites. They all describe a fever, that is more like a severe virus or flu unique to the continent. No one ever reported the telltale boils of smallpox or the red rash of measles.

Fearful of establishing a colony in a lightly scouted area, the Pilgrims elected to stay on the Mayflower. The conditions were in a word, horrific, and that winter was extremely harsh. Shore excursions could find almost no game, and arriving in October, the growing season in New England had long passed. By March of 1621, only 53 passengers and half the crew were alive. Of those, most were very ill, suffering from scurvy, dysentery, and malnutrition. The Mayflower sailed back to England in April of 1621, taking with it water in its drinking casks instead of beer, which was the chosen drink (even for infants and children). The investors were angry when the Mayflower arrived on its return voyage, empty of any riches from the new land.

Weak, sick, and with little success, the colonists started building their village in Plymouth, under the watchful eye of the Wampanoag and Nauset. The great plague had left only 10% of the Wampanoag and a handful of Nauset as survivors. A debate raged on what to do with these visitors. The warriors advised chief Massasoit to kill them. They were weak, the track record of dealing with whites was bleak, and they could easily crush the colonists. Some debated to leave them alone. Let nature takes its path with the ill-prepared whites slowly dying off. They argued that most of the population was women and children and they appeared to have no understanding of the land.

Massasoit had other problems, enemies laid to the west in the Narraganset, and he had no way to defend his people. The settlers had iron tools, and he felt that an alliance could help protect his people, and they could trade for items. He also thought that it was the moral thing to do.

Much to the colonists’ shock on March 16, 1621, an Eastern Abenaki Native American named Samoset (also spelled Somerset) walked right into the Pilgrim settlement. He said in English, “Hello Englishmen!” He stayed for the night, asking for beer, and told the settlers that he would bring others. The next day they arrived seeking to trade with skins, but being a Sunday, the Pilgrims refused. On March 22, 1621, Samoset returned, with four warriors and Squanto, a Wampanoag.

Squanto is a complex character in this story. Captured along with Samoset by white traders, he was taken in as a slave in England, where he learned English and English customs. Listening to his captors, he discovered they were obsessed with a metal – gold. Squanto hatched a plan to get back home and escape, telling them he knew where gold was in the new world, and he could show them with the help of Samoset. An expedition went back to the northeast coast. At the first opportunity, Samoset and Squanto escaped, and no vast treasure was found.

Squanto and Samoset came back to North America to discover their nations were wiped out by disease, and their people viewing them with distrust. They had not suffered during the last decade, in the minds of the survivors of the plague, while the Wampanoag and Abenaki died. Squanto was never fully trusted for the rest of his days.

Enter the other character in this story, Edward Winslow. During that meeting on March 22, the Wampanoag demanded they receive a hostage before holding talks because they did not trust the whites. After some discussion, Edward Winslow was selected, volunteered, or was voluntold – depending on which account you follow. A peace treaty was negotiated. Squanto was left behind under the guise he would provide aid to the settlers. In reality, he was left behind to serve as a spy for Massasoit.

The story of Squanto teaching the Pilgrims to plant Indian Wheat (corn as we call it today), how to fertilize the soil with fish and lobsters, where and how to hunt the native animals, how to fish the native streams, and identify edible plants are all true. Had Squanto not helped the Pilgrims, the colony would have likely failed by the winter of 1621-22.

The exact date of the first Thanksgiving is not known, but it was in the fall or early winter of 1621. The Pilgrims were in a much better state through the help of Squanto, Massasoit, and the Wampanoag/Nauset. However, the story you were taught in school – not remotely true.

Sometime in the late fall or early winter, a large contingent of the surviving Wampanoag showed up at the Plymouth colony, about 90 to 100 people. The Pilgrims numbered 53 when they made landfall in March of 1621 and had dwindled to 47. So those paintings of lots of Pilgrims and a few Native Americans? Not true.

The Wampanoag brought with them, among other things, five killed deer. For the Pilgrims and English society in 1621, venison was like bring lobster, filet minion, veal chops, and toro sushi all at the same time to someone’s house. The Wampanoag said to paraphrase heavily, “we’re going to have a feast – here.“

The Pilgrims accepted the offer (not that there was much choice), and of course, provided their food to add to the feast. Wild turkey might have been on the menu, but the real food of choice for the first Thanksgiving was – venison. In an ironic twist, the feast went on for three days. The Puritans were against all forms of sin, and a three-day feast of food and alcohol check off the” gluttony” box. In addition, there are reports of gambling, trade, and exchange of stories.

So that is the real story of the first Thanksgiving.

As for celebrations after? They happened sporadically on years of a good harvest. The Wampanoag/Nauset enjoyed an increasingly shaky peace with the settlers until 1674 – just 53 years. By then, all of the surviving original Pilgrims had died. With it, the understanding of the incredible debt owed to the Wampanoag and Chief Massasoit. Boston had grown to the second-largest city in North America, behind New York.

Edward Winslow came to be a trusted friend of Massasoit. In 1623 Massasoit fell gravely ill, possibly from the same illness that killed most of the natives almost two decades earlier. Edward Winslow was sent for by Massasoit, as were other area chiefs, to sit with the sick leader and to be there for his passing. Edward Winslow personally nursed his friend, and Massasoit survived. A bond was formed in the longhouse that would last until Massasoit’s death. Sadly, it would be Massasoit’s son and Winslow’s son that would undo their hard work and lay the foundation for King Phillips War – more on that later.

Ships laden with more settlers arrived almost daily, and Edward Winslow’s son, Josiah, who became governor of the Plymouth Colony, held the native population in contempt. Metacomet, also known as Phillip by his baptized name, was Massasoit’s third son and became the leader of Wampanoag.

In 1671 Josiah humiliated Metacomet forcibly disarming him and his warriors and making them sign a very one-sided treaty. The Wampanoag became subjugated unless they would conscript themselves to “praying towns,” giving up their ways and following both the Christian God and the English ways in all aspects. To meet these requirements, increasing numbers of indigenous peoples moved into “praying towns.”

By 1674 rumors of war swept the land. Fear had grown so large that in December, over 300 Wampanoag and Nauset who were living in praying towns were rounded up. They brought men, women, and children to Deer Island in Boston Harbor. With no food, drinking water, shelter, or way to keep warm, the entire population froze to death.

In 1675, under the orders of Josiah Winslow, three Wampanoag were hung from a tree for the murder of a John Sasamon. No one knows how John died, whether it was murder, an accident, or suicide. Did he fall through the ice of Assawmpset Pond? The trial to this day is considered make-believe, and one of the hanged included a close friend of Metacomet.

In response, Metacomet declared an open guerrilla war on the colonists. Over the next three years, the bloodiest conflict in the continent’s history was fought, with over 10% of the settler population killed and entire towns wiped off the map. There was an open discussion about evacuating the colonies in the early stages of the war due to the ruthless violence of the Wampanoag and supporting tribes.

In the end, Metacoment’s family was murdered, which broke his spirit, and literally, broke him. Despite an offer from the governor of Rhode Island for sanctuary for him and the straggling survivors of his people, he allowed himself to be captured. Metacomet was tried, found guilty of treason, hung, quartered, and beheaded. His head was put on display and left for years. The Wampanoag and their supporters were eradicated. The rest is as they say…history.