Every year in Plymouth, Massachusetts, as most of us are taking the time of the Thanksgiving holiday to share fellowship with family and friends, watch too much football and eat too much turkey, a different commemoration is taking place. The descendants of the Wampanoag Indians who encountered the Pilgrims in 1620 have a different story to tell from the one we all learned in school. Their story is one that begins in friendship, but is soon followed by betrayal, by war, and ultimately by the genocide visited upon their Nation.
I’ve had the honor of being able to travel to Plymouth to take part in this commemoration five times. The first time, in 1998, was a journey by bus, which was originally published in KUUMBAReport No. 9, February 1999 and is reposted below. Four other times I drove to Plymouth from Maryland, and on three of those occasions my dear departed Rottweiler, who died in October 2012, traveled with me. I was not able to make the trip this year, so I cannot share that experience with you, but we hope the description that follows will provide a reasonable explanation of what the National Day of Mourning, which most Americans regard as Thanksgiving Day, is all about.
“We are not Vanishing.
We are not Conquered.
We are as Strong as Ever!”
This was the primary slogan of the United American Indians of New England (UAINE) as they commenced the 1998 Day of Mourning Rally and March at Cole’s Hill in historic Plymouth, Massachusetts, overlooking Plymouth Rock. The event had been held at this place every year since 1970, when Wamsutta Frank B. James, a member of the Wampanoag Indian Nation, had been invited by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts to address a gathering of dignitaries marking the 350th anniversary of the arrival of the Pilgrims. After he accepted their invitation, he was asked for a copy of his remarks in advance. Upon seeing that his view of the history of the Pilgrims did not agree with theirs, the planners of the event first attempted to write a speech for him to recite, then, upon being told he would not have words put in his mouth, they withdrew their invitation and chose not to allow him to speak. With that, he and other Indigenous people from throughout the country called for “Thanksgiving Day” to be observed as a Day of Mourning for Indian people. It has been so observed every year since that time.
Most of us know well the story of the Pilgrims as was taught in school. Upon landing at Plymouth Rock, these hardy adventurers, seeking only religious freedom, nearly starved to death in the first winter. But, after surviving with the help of the benevolent Indian chief Massassoit, the Pilgrims and the Indians got together for a feast of thanksgiving turkey. Thus, 377 years’ worth of good cheer, turkey, cranberry sauce, and (finally) football games was begun.
The only problem with that scenario is that it is untrue. Yes, the Pilgrims did nearly starve to death that first winter. Yes, they would not have survived if not for the goodwill of Massassoit, if for no other reason than he chose to live in peace with them rather than try to drive them from Indian land. Today, many UAINE activists say the decision to live in peace with the Pilgrims was the worst mistake Massassoit could have made. This sentiment was eloquently stated in the speech that Wamsutta Frank James had prepared for Thanksgiving Day 1970, but his words were silenced due to ignorance, fear and greed. We reprint some of his words here as they tell the story better than ours could.
The Suppressed Speech of Wamsutta Frank James: Thanksgiving Day, 1970
“I speak to you as a man–a Wampanoag Man. I am a proud man, proud of my ancestry, my accomplishments won by a strict parental direction (“You must succeed – your face is a different color in this small Cape Cod community!”). I am a product of poverty and discrimination from these two social and economic diseases. I, and my brothers and sisters, have painfully overcome, and to some extent earned the respect of our community. We are Indians first–but we are termed ‘good citizens.’ Sometimes we are arrogant but only because society has pressured us to be so.
“It is with mixed emotion that I stand here to share my thoughts. This is a time of celebration for you–celebrating an anniversary of a beginning for the White man in America. A time of looking back, of reflection. It is with a heavy heart that I look back upon what happened to my People.
“Even before the Pilgrims landed it was common practice for explorers to capture Indians, take them to Europe and sell them as slaves for 220 shillings apiece. The Pilgrims had hardly explored the shores of Cape Cod for four days before they had robbed the graves of my ancestors and stolen their corn and beans. Mourt’s Relation describes a searching party of sixteen men. He goes on to say that this party took as much of the Indian’s winter provisions as they were able to carry.
“Massasoit, the great Sachem of the Wampanoag, knew these facts, yet he and his People welcomed and befriended the settlers of the Plymouth Plantation. Perhaps he did this because his Tribe had been depleted by an epidemic. Or his knowledge of the harsh oncoming winter was the reason for his peaceful acceptance of these acts. This action by Massasoit was perhaps our biggest mistake. We, the Wampanoag, welcomed you, the White man with open arms, little knowing that it was the beginning of the end; that before 50 years were to pass, the Wampanoag would no longer be a free people.
“What happened in those short 50 years? What has happened in the last 300 years? History gives us facts and there were atrocities; there were broken promises–and most of these centered around land ownership. Among ourselves we understood that there were boundaries, but never before had we had to deal with fences and stone walls. But the White man had a need to prove his worth by the amount of land that he owned. Only ten years later, when the Puritans came, they treated the Wampanoag with even less kindness in converting the souls of the so-called ‘savages’. Although they were harsh to members of their own society, the Indian was pressed between stone slabs and hanged as quickly as any other ‘witch’.
“And so down through the years there is record after record of Indian lands taken, and in token, reservations set up for him upon which to live. The Indian, having been stripped of his power, could only stand by and watch while the White man took his lands and used it for his personal gain. This the Indian could not understand; for to him, land was survival, to farm, to hunt, to be enjoyed. It was not to be abused. We see incident after incident, where the White man sought to tame the ?savage? and convert him to the Christian ways of life. The early Pilgrim settlers led the Indian to believe that, if he did not behave, they would dig up the ground and unleash the great epidemic again.
“Has the Wampanoag really disappeared? There is still an aura of mystery. We know there was an epidemic that took many Indian lives–some Wampanoags moved west and joined the Cherokee and Cheyenne. They were forced to move. Some even went north to Canada! Many Wampanoags put aside their Indian heritage and accepted the White man’s way for their own survival. There are some Wampanoag who do not wish it known they are Indian for social or economic reasons. …
“History wants us to believe that the Indian was a savage, illiterate, uncivilized animal. … Two distinctly different cultures met. One thought they must control life; the other believed life was to be enjoyed, because nature decreed it. Let us remember, the Indian is and was just as human as the White man. The Indian feels pain, gets hurt, and becomes defensive, has dreams, bears tragedy and failure, suffers from loneliness, needs to cry as well as laugh. He, too, is often misunderstood.
“The White man in the presence of the Indian is still mystified by his uncanny ability to make him feel uncomfortable. This may be the image the White man has created of the Indian; his ?savageness? has boomeranged and isn’t a mystery; it is fear; fear of the Indian’s temperament!
“High on a hill, overlooking the famed Plymouth Rock, stands the statue of our great Sachem, Massasoit. Massasoit has stood there many years in silence. We, the descendants of this great Sachem, have been a silent people. The necessity of making a living in this materialistic society of the White man caused us to be silent. Today, many of my people are choosing to face the truth. We ARE Indians!
“Although time has drained our culture and our language is almost extinct, we the Wampanoags still walk the lands of Massachusetts. We may be fragmented, we may be confused. Many years have passed since we have been a people together. Our lands were invaded. We fought as hard to keep our land as you the Whites did to take our land away from us. We were conquered, we became the American prisoners of war in many cases, and wards of the United States Government, until only recently.
“We are uniting. … We stand tall and proud, and before too many moons pass we’ll right the wrongs we have allowed to happen to us.
“We forfeited our country. Our lands have fallen into the hands of the aggressor. We have allowed the White man to keep us on our knees. What has happened cannot be changed, but today we must work towards a more humane America, a more Indian America, where men and nature once again are important; where the Indian values of honor, truth, and brotherhood prevail.
“You the White man are celebrating an anniversary. We the Wampanoags will help you celebrate in the concept of a beginning. It was the beginning of a new life for the Pilgrims. Now, 350 years later it is a beginning of a new determination for the original American: the American Indian.
“There are some factors concerning the Wampanoags and other Indians across this vast nation. We now have 350 years of experience living amongst the White man. We can now speak his language. We can now think as a white man thinks. … We’re being heard; we are now being listened to. The important point is that along with these necessities of everyday living, we still have the spirit, we still have the unique culture, we still have the will and, most important of all, the determination to remain as Indians. We are determined, and our presence here this evening is living testimony that this is only the beginning of the American Indian, particularly the Wampanoag, to regain the position in this country that is rightfully ours.”
Thus the National Day of Mourning began.
The 1997 March and the Police Beat-Down
The 1997 March evidenced a growing response from the Indian community and its supporters. This evidently was too much for the City of Plymouth to bear. The 1996 March had raised concerns among the city fathers due to what was referred to as a ?minor incident? in which the Day of Mourning March began just as another march, called the Pilgrim Progress “which celebrated the arrival of the Pilgrims as much as the Indians mourned it” was passing Cole’s Hill, the site of the Day of Mourning Rally. Apparently, the Pilgrim Progress marchers, feeling intimidated by the Indian protesters, chose to halt their procession and allow the protesters to continue through the streets of Plymouth.
In 1997, however, the City of Plymouth was apparently prepared for a conflict. As the Day of Mourning marchers began their procession and continued into downtown Plymouth, police descended upon them, arresting 25 March organizers, participants and supporters. Many marchers accused the police of brutally dragging protesters by the hair (to the extent that one man’s braided locks were torn from his head), throwing and pinning people to the ground and other acts of excessive force. The police department countered that the protesters had no permit to march and that the police officers? actions were the only way to secure arrestees who trespassed and refused to comply with ?lawful? police commands. As a result of the confrontation on November 27, 1997, the case of “The Plymouth 25” was born.
Members of this group, which included 1998 organizers Mahtowin Monroe and Moonanum James, were arraigned and charged with a variety of offenses. Letters, e-mails and faxes were sent to federal, state and local officials demanding that the charges be dropped. Petitions were signed, and many people honored UAINE’s call for an economic boycott of Plymouth. “Supporters stood with us in court every time we were required to make an appearance and made sure that information about our case was distributed internationally,” said UAINE in a prepared statement. The end result was vindication for the protesters after almost eleven months of court battles. “We are pleased to announce that the frame-up criminal charges against those arrested on November 27, 1997 have been dropped,” their October 19, 1998 statement continued. “Further, [UAINE] has reached a settlement with the town of Plymouth. Plymouth has acknowledged our right to walk on our own land without a permit on National Day of Mourning. Plymouth has agreed to make the truth part of its celebration of the pilgrim myth of thanksgiving. Under the terms of this agreement, we will have a number of important opportunities to address the lies and inaccuracies about ?thanksgiving? and the history of indigenous peoples that have been disseminated not only in Plymouth but throughout the country. We are confident that this agreement represents a tremendous victory for the struggle of Native people to have our voices heard and respected.” In addition to the above, Plymouth agreed to pay $100,000 to the Metacom Education Fund “for education on the true history of Native people,” $20,000 to the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) for legal fees, and $15,000 for two plaques commemorating the National Day of Mourning and the story of Massasoit’s successor Metacom (or “King Phillip” to the Pilgrims), who, upon witnessing the aggressive tactics used by the Pilgrims, had sought to drive them from Indian land. This had led to what the Pilgrims called “King Phillip’s War”, during which Pilgrims and Indians alike died en masse and Metacom was finally hunted down and killed, his head stuck on a pike in front of the Pilgrims’ settlement for 24 years.
Arrangements have been made to allow the Indian perspective of “Thanksgiving Day” as a Day of Mourning to be represented in the schools of Plymouth. And the events of 1997 practically insured that Plymouth, Mass. would gain more media attention in 1998 than it bargained for.
The 1998 Rally and March
A bus carrying a delegation from Baltimore was arranged by the All People’s Congress in response to Ms. Monroe and Mr. James’s call for action. Approximately 30 travelers left Baltimore at about 12:00 midnight for the long ride to Plymouth, arriving at about 9:00 am. The weather was cold and threatening, with rain in the forecast. The assembled crowd, which was estimated to have reached 1,500, was not deterred. Better rain drops crashing on their heads than police batons, they must have thought.
After several Indigenous speakers addressed the crowd, covering topics from the history of the Day of Mourning, the history of the Pilgrims and the previous year’s March to the plight of political prisoners including not only Leonard Peltier but also Mumia Abu-Jamal and Marshall “Eddie” Conway, the March through the streets of downtown Plymouth began. The March wound through several blocks, all the time under the watchful eyes of the Plymouth police as well as the “peacekeepers” appointed by March organizers whose job it was to insure against confrontations with the police or other potential adversaries. The Pilgrim’s Progress march, which had quietly passed by over an hour before, did not conflict with the protesters.
At the end of the March, a Town Hall Meeting was held in the auditorium of a local community center. There, several March organizers spoke again, while participants greeted each other and Food Not Bombs provided their version of a true Thanksgiving feast–thanks for a successful event, thanks for an important victory for Indian people, thanks for rain being the only thing to pound the marchers’ heads.
The 2010 National Day of Mourning March
The last time I was able to attend the National Day of Mourning March was in November 2010. At that time, KUUMBAReport Newsletter was not being published, however, the KUUMBARadioReport was being broadcast on Harambee Radio (www.harambeeradio.com). We shared audio of the many speeches that were made that day, and we will share three of those speeches below.