You might reconsider celebrating Thanksgiving - the real dark history behind it!

Source: MeatEater

The first-ever feast ended in a lot of bloodsheds and that is the reason many Native Americans consider Thanksgiving a day of remembrance rather than celebration. So what really went down in Plymouth after the feast was done? 

The peace treaty between the Plymouth settlers and the Wampanoag tribe was first negotiated by a Wampanoag leader named Massasoit in 1620. The treaty was simple, there was to be no violence between the two parties to ensure peaceful commerce. But things took a turn for the worse when Massasoit’s son Wamsutta took over after his father’s demise in 1661. While the tension was rising back Wamsutta died mysteriously in 1662 when he was visiting the Puritans to discuss the unrest between the two parties. After Wamsutta’s demise, Metacomet took his place but did very little to make peace instead of adding to the fire which was already burning.

It did not look like things would get better and they did not. In 1675 three Natives were executed after they murdered a man who formerly worked for the settlers. Metacomet had only one fear, the settlers would slowly take all the land from the Natives. So joined hands with various Native tribes and built a coalition to protect their land and resources. By the time winter came the coalition of the Natives had started attacking settlements in Massachusetts and Connecticut.   

While the Narragansett tribe remained neutral in the conflict, they did not turn away any elderly, women, or children who came to them for refuge during the conflict. And that did not go well with the Puritan forces and they attacked the Narragansett base and it was bloody. The Puritan forces killed over 600 Natives and 150 settlers.

The conflicts continued and both the colonies and the Native tribes both took serious damage. Wampanoag began kidnapping settlers and held them for ransom. The pillaging and destruction of the Native villages continued. The violence ended after Metacomet was beheaded and dismembered. The Historical Journal of Massachusetts has an article that mentioned Metacomet was killed in Rhode Island. After his death, his allies were either executed or sold as slaves. The colonists went further to impale his head on a spike and put it up for display in Plymouth for 25 years. The article also states the war claimed half the population of Native Americans living in New England. 

This was one of many conflicts between the Native Americans and the colonizers. And honestly the Native Americans never really recovered from the conflicts. The Native American population took a serious hit and meanwhile many settlers arrived which marked the end of one world and the beginning of another. And that is why Native Americans and their supporters gathered on Cole’s hill in Plymouth not to celebrate but to commemorate a National Day of Mourning. They have been doing that since Thanksgiving Day 1970. 

So after knowing the dark story behind Thanksgiving day, will you be celebrating Thanksgiving differently this year? Comment down below.