LITR 4332: American Minority Literature

Jennifer Mason

The Truth about Giving Thanks

            With so many interesting topics covered this semester, it was difficult to narrow down my interest to one specific research topic.  I originally wanted to research the truth behind the tourist attractions at the reservations that many Native American Indians occupy today.  I wanted to find out if the rituals that the Indians display for the tourists are real or manufactured for capital gain.  I was unsuccessful in finding information regarding the subject.  However, I will certainly look to answer these questions in the future.

            My second research voyage, and the one that I am presenting for the purposes of this report, is the story of Thanksgiving.  This line of research directly relates to 6b (To question sacred modern concepts like “individuality” and “rights” and politically correct ideas like minorities as “victims”; to explore emerging postmodern identities, e.g. “biracial”, “global”, and “post-national”).  In elementary school, we dressed like Indians and Pilgrims and we had mock dinners.  My teachers taught about the gathering of these groups in a friendly and welcoming manner.  The Indians, so my family and schools taught, gracefully met the Pilgrims for a splendid dinner that both sides found mutually beneficial.  Every year, under this assumption, my family gets together for turkey, dressing, and all of the other beautiful embellishments.  This past year I received a card that displayed the Thanksgiving story as barbaric and far away from the tale that I learned when I was young.  I became very interested in the true story of Thanksgiving and this assignment granted me the opportunity to research it for myself and to hopefully supply information that other naïve Americans, such as myself and many others in the majority group, can use to draw their personal conclusions about that part of history.

            Initially I took the textbook historical route and researched the origin of Thanksgiving.  I thought that the day that represents Thanksgiving coincided with the actual day that the Pilgrims and Indians came together.  However, I discovered that this holiday was actually determined by the government years after the first dinner. In fact, according to Samuel Wilson, it was not until after the battle of Gettysburg that Lincoln established the date we know to be Thanksgiving today. “Lincoln proclaimed, ‘I do, therefore, invite my fellow citizens in every part of the United States … to set apart and observe the last Thursday of November next as a day of thanks giving and praise to our beneficent Father who dwelleth in the heavens’” (Wilson 22).  Wilson added that, “The feast of Thanksgiving celebrated this month is a phenomenon of our time, not theirs, a morality tale dealing with values central to modern American culture-religious freedom, self-reliance, political independence, and racial harmony” (Wilson 22).  I gained the information that represented the Pilgrims’ side of the history.

            Each of my sources agreed on the origin of the holiday that we now know to be Thanksgiving Day and that it was not a true representation of when the two groups actually had their feast.  This information made me question whether they even had a feast at all.  According to America’s Homepage, “The Pilgrims did have a feast in 1621, after their first harvest, and it is this feast which people often refer to as ‘The First Thanksgiving’”.  The unknown author from America’s Homepage also added that the feast never occurred again, that the colonists did not refer to it as Thanksgiving, and that the feast lasted for three days and they dined on fowl and venison with about “ninety Indians”.  Once again, this information came from the perspective of the Pilgrims and not the Indians.

            Now that I have unveiled some information about Thanksgiving, told by the Pilgrims, it is time to discuss the information I found pertaining to the Indian’s perspective. I found an article by Sean Cavanagh where he reported his findings from an Indian classroom perspective.  Cavanagh reaffirmed that Lincoln began the initial establishment of the holiday but he also added that, “Congress permanently established it in 1941”.  The article describes the work to bring the true history to the classroom and sentiments of the Indian minority population and the consensus is that of contempt of the majority by that population. He points out that Indians have held these traditions since long before the arrival of the pilgrims.  “’We had Thanksgivings that had gone on for centuries,’ Linda Coombs, an associate director at the Plimoth Plantation, who is of the Aqunnah and Wahmpanoag descent.  According to a history published by her organization this year, ‘giving thanks for the Creator’s gifts’ has long been part of everyday life in Wampanoag tradition”.  I looked for the type of feast that the two groups enjoyed and found an interesting contradiction.  Cavanagh reported in his telling of the Indian side of the story that pumpkin dishes were likely but they do not know if they actually ate turkey.   America’s Homepage, on the other hand, reported, “the fowl would have included turkeys”.  I found the two perspectives interesting even though it appeared to be an insignificant detail, because they both claim that the information they provided came from the staff at Plimoth Plantation, which America’s Homepage describes as, “the living museum in Plymouth, Massachusetts”.  The differing sides and information about the same subject left me a bit uncertain of what to believe in the grand scheme of things.

            It was this uncertainty that led me to email my son’s first grade teacher to find out how she teaches the subject.  She explained that the focus is on coming together and accepting others while showing kindness (Mulkey). This is much like what I learned in school; however, I do keep in mind that the children are young.  I also emailed my daughter’s fifth grade teacher who requested that I not use our conversation for the purposes of the research project.  This led me to look further at the article I mentioned above that deals with the Indian perspective.  “Ms. Adler, the director of teacher education at the University of Missouri-Kansas City, has seen an improvement in teacher’s efforts to describe the historical events accurately. ‘If kids could leave school with a knowledge of how different people see history and cultural events differently, they would gain a lot,’ she said” (Cavanagh 6).  It is interesting that the majority appears to be uncomfortable with its past while the minority embrace its historical roots.

            I have learned a great deal because of my research.  I learned that the holiday is not everything I thought it was and I am actually celebrating American tradition rather than a combination.  On the other hand, when my family gets together any day of the year and gives thanks, we are celebrating the true spirit of the Indian tradition.  I want to dive further, explore exactly what schools are teaching, and assure that my children understand the ramifications that the true history has.  In addition, I will certainly appreciate the sacrifices of the Indians and understand that I must correct my naïve belief that everything was sunshine and roses. I have feelings of frustration that there are so many sides and that my family and teachers only showed me the side of the majority. Perhaps the biggest lesson I learned is not to accept things at face value and that not all information is true or factual. There is much more research I must do, but I am certain that the knowledge I have gained thus far will carry me well into the future both personally and professionally.

Works Cited

Cavanagh, Sean. “American Indians Recast Thanksgiving Lessons.” Education Week 22.13 (2002): 6. Academic Search Premier. 17 April 2007. http://search.ebscohost.com.

Mulkey, Leslie. Email. 17 April 2007.

“The Truth About the Pilgrims and Thanksgiving”. America’s Homepage. 1995-96. Media 3 Technologies. 17 April 2007. http://pilgrims.net.

Wilson, Samuel M. “Pilgrim’s Paradox”. Natural History 100.11 (1991): 22. Academic Search Premier. 17 April 2007. http://search.ebscohost.com.