400 years later, natives who helped Pilgrims gain a voice
S E E D E D C O N T E N T
PLYMOUTH, Mass. (AP) — The seaside town where the Pilgrims came ashore in 1620 is gearing up for a 400th birthday bash, and everyone’s invited — especially the native people whose ancestors wound up losing their land and lives.
Plymouth, Massachusetts, whose European settlers have come to symbolize American liberty and grit, marks its quadricentennial in 2020 with a trans-Atlantic commemoration that will put Native Americans’ unvarnished side of the story on full display.
“It’s history. It happened,” said Michele Pecoraro, executive director of Plymouth 400, Inc., a nonprofit group organizing yearlong events. “We’re not going to solve every problem and make everyone feel better. We just need to move the needle.”
Organizers are understandably cautious this time around. When the 350th anniversary of the Pilgrim landing was observed in 1970, state officials disinvited a leader of the Wampanoag Nation — the Native American tribe that helped the haggard newcomers survive their first bitter winter — after learning his speech would bemoan the disease, racism and oppression that followed the Pilgrims.
That triggered angry demonstrations from tribal members who staged a National Day of Mourning, a somber remembrance that indigenous New Englanders have observed on every Thanksgiving Day since.
This time, there’s pressure to get it right, said Jim Peters, a Wampanoag who directs the Massachusetts Commission on Indian Affairs.
“We’ll be able to tell some stories of what happened to us — to delve back into our history and talk about it,” Peters said. “Hopefully it will give us a chance to re-educate people and have a national discussion about how we should be treating each other.”
The commemoration known as Plymouth 400 will feature events throughout 2020, including a maritime salute in Plymouth Harbor in June, an embarkation festival in September, and a week of ceremonies around Thanksgiving.
The Mayflower II , a replica of the ship that carried the settlers from Europe to the New World four centuries ago, will sail to Boston in the spring. That autumn, it will head to Provincetown, at the outermost tip of Cape Cod, where the Pilgrims initially landed before continuing on to Plymouth.
Events also are planned in Britain and in the Netherlands, where the Pilgrims spent 11 years in exile before making their perilous sea crossing.
But the emphasis is on highlighting the often-ignored history of the Wampanoag and poking holes in the false narrative that Pilgrims and Indians coexisted in peace and harmony.
An interactive exhibit now making the rounds describes how the Wampanoag were cheated and enslaved, and in August 2020 tribal members will guide visitors on a walk through Plymouth to point out and consecrate spots where their ancestors once trod.
There are also plans to invite relatives of the late Wampanoag elder Wamsutta “Frank” James to publicly read that speech he wasn’t allowed to deliver in 1970 — an address that includes this passage: “We, the Wampanoag, welcomed you, the white man, with open arms, little knowing that it was the beginning of the end.”
“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,” the speech reads.
Dusty Rhodes, who chairs a separate state commission working to ensure the commemoration has a global profile, said she hopes it all helps make amends for centuries of “mishandled and misrepresented” history.
“The Pilgrims were the first immigrants,” said Plymouth 400′s Pecoraro. “We’re in a place in this country where we need solidarity. We need to come together. We need to be talking about immigration and indigenous people.”
Plymouth, nicknamed “America’s Hometown,” is sure to draw a crush of 2020 presidential candidates who will use its monuments as campaign backdrops. With President Donald Trump, Queen Elizabeth II and other heads of state on the invitation list, state and federal authorities already are busy mapping out security plans.
Wampanoag tribal leader and activist Linda Coombs, who’s helped plan the commemoration, is skeptical that anything meaningful will change for her people.
“It’s a world stage, so we’ll have more visibility than we’ve had in the past,” she said. “We’ll see if it’s enough. It’ll be a measuring stick for all that has to come afterward.”
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But the emphasis is on highlighting the often-ignored history of the Wampanoag and poking holes in the false narrative that Pilgrims and Indians coexisted in peace and harmony.
So many people actually fail to see or even want to see the "Rest of the Story" of the impact to the Native Americans by this intrusion.
I have on occasion wondered if the Indians, (if they had a crystal ball and could see 200 years into the future) would have not slaughtered those hapless pilgrims and anyone that followed...
I believe they would have, and with the foreknowledge, been greatly justified in such actions.....
Wouldn't have changed the facts of Europeans coming over here, but it sure would have changed the approach I think....
I was just in Plymouth earlier this month and visited the living museum. It was a very interesting experience. As with all holidays in America, we have forgotten the real reason we celebrate and highlight these occasions.
Dulay - the link was unavailable, so I used this one -
Thanks for the fix 1st.
I found it a good reality check.
I wonder how many people would if they watched this?
It's not easy to give up the fantasy we've been taught all of our lives.
The biggest lies, like 'manifest destiny' and 'the Puritans' are the hardest.
Thanksgiving to me means that we are still here.
I can agree with that, on all sides....
I don't suppose there will be any mention of this will there?
The Native Americans Who Saved the Pilgrims Could Lose Their Land, Again
Sadly Steve, there won't be any mention of it and that isn't surprising.
You are correct Kavika, sadly. But it would be fun to drag up Trump's testimony to Congress about how "they don't look like Indians to me.." blah blah blah.
First, I'd like to see that testimony.
Second - saw a synopsis of the Mashpee conundrum and was waiting for more info. H.R.5244 - Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe Reservation Reaffirmation Act was introduced in the House on 3/8/18 and is waiting for discussion. 21 co-sponsors. This could also be the tag-a-long bill that Tester has been trying to get passed since 2015.
If it fails, 173 tribes stand to lose their status as "Indian Tribes" as they were not recognized in 1934 - per SCOTUS and Clarence Thomas.
Trump and this administration do not favor Indian Tribes/Nations. Could be because the tribes/nations are sitting on tons and tons of money making natural resources that the rich dudes can't get.
The one Trump and Roger Stone were fined $250,000 for.
Trump and this administration do not favor Indians Tribes/Nations....LOL the understatement of the decade. How any Indian can support this administration is beyond me.
How anyone can support this administration is beyond me too
'They don't look like Indians to me': Donald Trump on Native American casinos in 1993
It available on the net along with the con that he and Roger Stone tried to pull and it ended up with them having to pay a $250,000 fine for lying about a phony company they set up to destroy the Indian bid for a casino.
Thanks
You are quite welcome. I was actually looking for the original article I read at Indian Country Today and just happened across the video. I had forgotten about the interaction concerning the FBI. I love video.
Yep, he is a lover of monopolies/authoritarians. Notice how he is always on the attack, always trying to make opposition backtrack.
If it wasn't for his excessive greed, intolerable arrogance, and endless fallacious lies, Trump would not have anything going for him at all.
He likes to give the impression that he has the 'Midas Touch', but, the fact is that everything he touches turns to slime at others' expense.
Just my own opinion.
Good selection of videos. Interesting though, that in 1993, 25 years ago, there were many in Congress who were asking the same questions 'bout mob interference - no one ever got an answer.
What's 'interesting' to me is that Trump claimed to have provided evidence to Congress that there WAS mob control of Indian casinos and not ONE iota of his 'evidence' bore fruit.
It seems to illustrate Trump's MO has been decades in the making...
Probably because the only mob influence was on Trump's side.
But Trump was not clean as a whistle.
Actually they did...The FBI cleared the tribe of any mob connections.