Printable View
Despite terrible things happening nearby and around the world, let us all take time out to appreciate all the things that there is to be thankful for. From the blessed place on the planet we live, our friends, family and health (if you are reading this you are on the right side of the grass, at a minimum). Our community, both online and in real life, the miracle of life, and much much more...
May you have a warm and wonderful holiday filled with gratitude and joy! :waccosun:
Manataka American Indian Council
THE REAL STORY OF THANKSGIVING
by Susan Bates
Most of us associate the holiday with happy Pilgrims and Indians sitting down to a big feast. And that did happen - once.
The story began in 1614 when a band of English explorers sailed home to England with a ship full of Patuxet Indians bound for slavery. They left behind smallpox which virtually wiped out those who had escaped. By the time the Pilgrims arrived in Massachusetts Bay they found only one living Patuxet Indian, a man named Squanto who had survived slavery in England and knew their language. He taught them to grow corn and to fish, and negotiated a peace treaty between the Pilgrims and the Wampanoag Nation. At the end of their first year, the Pilgrims held a great feast honoring Squanto and the Wampanoags.
But as word spread in England about the paradise to be found in the new world, religious zealots called Puritans began arriving by the boatload. Finding no fences around the land, they considered it to be in the public domain. Joined by other British settlers, they seized land, capturing strong young Natives for slaves and killing the rest. But the Pequot Nation had not agreed to the peace treaty Squanto had negotiated and they fought back. The Pequot War was one of the bloodiest Indian wars ever fought.
In 1637 near present day Groton, Connecticut, over 700 men, women and children of the Pequot Tribe had gathered for their annual Green Corn Festival which is our Thanksgiving celebration. In the predawn hours the sleeping Indians were surrounded by English and Dutch mercenaries who ordered them to come outside. Those who came out were shot or clubbed to death while the terrified women and children who huddled inside the longhouse were burned alive. The next day the governor of the Massachusetts Bay Colony declared "A Day Of Thanksgiving" because 700 unarmed men, women and children had been murdered.
Cheered by their "victory", the brave colonists and their Indian allies attacked village after village. Women and children over 14 were sold into slavery while the rest were murdered. Boats loaded with a many as 500 slaves regularly left the ports of New England. Bounties were paid for Indian scalps to encourage as many deaths as possible.
Following an especially successful raid against the Pequot in what is now Stanford, Connecticut, the churches announced a second day of "thanksgiving" to celebrate victory over the heathen savages. During the feasting, the hacked off heads of Natives were kicked through the streets like soccer balls. Even the friendly Wampanoag did not escape the madness. Their chief was beheaded, and his head impaled on a pole in Plymouth, Massachusetts -- where it remained on display for 24 years.
The killings became more and more frenzied, with days of thanksgiving feasts being held after each successful massacre. George Washington finally suggested that only one day of Thanksgiving per year be set aside instead of celebrating each and every massacre. Later Abraham Lincoln decreed Thanksgiving Day to be a legal national holiday during the Civil War -- on the same day he ordered troops to march against the starving Sioux in Minnesota.
This story doesn't have quite the same fuzzy feelings associated with it as the one where the Indians and Pilgrims are all sitting down together at the big feast. But we need to learn our true history so it won't ever be repeated. Next Thanksgiving, when you gather with your loved ones to Thank God for all your blessings, think about those people who only wanted to live their lives and raise their families. They, also took time out to say "thank you" to Creator for all their blessings.
peace beshivaQuote:
Posted in reply to the post by beshiva:
ahh, the holiday season is upon us, with all of the joys and problems ... try as you might, you can not ignore them ... so what to do if you don't believe in the basic premise of the event(s)?
I once had a house-mate who couldn't tolerate Christmas ... he had had very bad experiences on Christmas due to alcoholic family members ... he was terrified that I would start decorating the house with santas and reindeers ... I'll repeat my message to him to others who just really don't enjoy the holidays or what they stand for ...
We are adults now and we get to choose how we celebrate these events ... we even get to choose not to celebrate, if that's what we want ... we can eat what we want and choose the significance, if any, that we give to the day ... we can frame it in our hearts and minds according to who we are ... but we don't get to dictate how others feel about it ...
that year, to spare my house mate difficult memories and feelings, we celebrated the Winter Solstice ... all decorations and sentiments were connected to nature, which he could tolerate and even enjoy ... no santas, etc. ... it was wonderful ...
so make of it what you will ... perhaps you'll start a trend ....
Happy, um, whatever folks ... I hope that you find some unexpected gems today ...