Thanksgiving has been around for hundreds of years. The earliest recorded Thanksgiving was autumn of 1621. As American citizens, most of us are expected to learn about The First Thanksgiving at a young age. It’s an important part of U.S. history. We’re expected to know about the unity of the Native Americans and the colonists. We’re supposed to understand the importance of being thankful for what we have. But what we don’t understand is that we’ve been lied to about a good majority of the information we’ve been told. Each generation has twisted the story, changing it to what they want it to be. But the Native Americans have shared their side of things. And not until recently did we get the big picture.

Most of us already know that the First Thanksgiving included both the Pilgrims of Plymouth, and the Wampanoag Tribe in present day Massachusetts. It was a time to celebrate and be thankful for that year’s harvests or their fortune. But there is no proper evidence that the Wampanoag people were even invited to the First Thanksgiving. During the celebration there were 90 tribe members present but there was no record of invitations at all. It is widely believed that these 90 Native Americans were an army of men, sent down by Ousamequin (The Wampanoag leader) because of gunfire. This gunshot, however, turned out to be just part of the celebrations.

Even though Wampanoag people weren’t invited to the celebration, that was probably for the best. The Native Americans and the Plymouth settlers had a tense relationship. When they first laid eyes on each other, it was because the colonists were stealing from the tribe’s winter food. The environment wasn’t kind, so the pilgrims were desperate for food, such as corn. They even stole about twenty Native American folk for their own gain, intending to sell them as slaves for a profit. The alliance between the groups was less about intercultural harmony and more about survival. 

The first harvest was followed by fatal conflict. In order to pay back the European’s Native American allies, they seized native land and imprisoned, enslaved or even executed native people. This was because they knew the Wampanoag people were excellent farmers, so they used them to their own gain and advantage. This did not help their already stressed relationship with the Wampanoag people, however.

The amount of native people became scarce. A good number of them died due to what they called “The Great Dying.” These diseases were brought over from England to America by the arriving colonists. This sickness was new to them, so their immune system wasn’t strong enough to handle it. They lived in fear from both the pilgrims and the spreading germs.

You may be wondering why you haven’t heard any of this before. Well, that’s because most U.S. schools don’t accurately teach Native American history. This can become a problem if we want to understand all the facts of American history, because these people have helped shape our country. They aren’t any less important than the colonists. They are a part of our history and it’s important to remember the part they’ve played in our society.

What can you do to help? You may think that there’s very little you can do because you only see yourself as a student. But we can do a lot more than we think. It can be as little as taking the time to learn more about indigenous people and their culture. It won’t only help us become more connected, but it can be interesting as well. You might even learn something that will stick with you for the rest of your life. Maybe you’d like to add traditional Native American cuisines to your Thanksgiving Day spread. November is Native American Heritage Month after all. Now is the best time to learn about native people! Hear their side of the story. It could change your perspective on things. You may not think you can do anything about it, but one voice can make a huge difference in the world.

https://dosomething.org/article/truthsgiving-the-true-history-of-thanksgiving