Every year, on the fourth Thursday of November, the second most popular holiday in the U.S. is celebrated: Thanksgiving. But how much of its history do we know of with the Native Americans that held the land before us?
“I remember learning in elementary school about the Native Americans when the pilgrims arrived in the New England area, pilgrims were struggling a lot to survive and the surrounding inhabitants – the Native Americans were there to help them become more stable, and then there was a big Thanksgiving dinner,” said first-year Ruthie Cassidy.
Within the New England region, we have a lot more history with Thanksgiving than some may think. Thanksgiving as a holiday originates from the Native American philosophy of giving without expecting anything in return, quoted from an article from Native Hope.
Native Americans held the land that we now call New England thousands of years before the first Europeans arrived. Furthermore, Native Hope has stated that “Thanksgiving is simply a chance to appreciate the good things in life, Native tribes celebrated the autumn harvest and the gift of Mother Earth’s abundance”. According to a National Geographic article on Native American history, “It is estimated that between 70,000 and 100,000 natives lived in this region at the beginning of the 17th century.”
Several different groups of people occupied this land, but they shared the majority of the same language and culture. Among these groups was the Wampanoag tribe.
“The ancestors of the Wampanoag people have lived for at least 10,000 years at Aquinnah and throughout the island of Noepe (Martha’s Vineyard),” according to an article on Wampanoag history.
Numbering 3000 or more before the Europeans arrived, now “to this day they still occupy the aboriginal land of Aquinnah and count 901 members, about 300 of whom live on the Island.”
According to the Wampanoag tribe, “The Wampanoag Nation once included all of Southeastern Massachusetts and Eastern Rhode Island, encompassing over 67 distinct tribal communities. The Wampanoag people have undergone a very difficult history after assisting pilgrims in the early 1600s.”
Numerous battles occurred between the colonists and Native Americans. Only six visible tribal communities are present today. The “Mashpee and Aquinnah have maintained a physical and cultural presence on their ancestral homelands,” as stated by the Wampanoag tribe.
Sean Cattigan, a first-year student, “remembers that the colonists came over and the Native Americans taught them Thanksgiving traditions, other than that not much knowledge about their history surfaced.”
When asked about her Thanksgiving experience, Cassidy stated she “spends her time traveling to see family or staying home eating a classic Thanksgiving dinner with [her] sister and parents.”
While stated in a Native Hope blog that some “Native Americans have chosen to reject the Thanksgiving holiday entirely, many embrace the positive messages of the day and choose to put aside thoughts about its complex history.”
Steven Peters, a Wampanoag Tribe spokesman, shared his views on Thanksgiving in the Native Hope blog: “I think it’s great. My ancestors had four harvest festivals throughout the year. Gathering with family, enjoying our company, sharing our blessings, and giving thanks for all that we have is a good thing. I say have more Thanksgiving events throughout the year. I also ask that you take a moment in that day to remember what happened to my people and the history as it was recorded and not the narrative that we had been given in the history books.”
Katie Aguilar can be contacted at
kaguilar@kscequinox.com
