The Stories We Are Told: The Thanksgiving Myth & Higher Education’s Responsibility For Its Undoing

Photo via the United American Indians of New England of the National Day of Mourning Gathering at Cole’s Hill. Learn more about their work, and join in this year’s gathering, at http://www.uaine.org/.

The Stories We Are Told: The Thanksgiving Myth & Higher Education’s Responsibility For Its Undoing

Written by: Olivia Tencer and Melina Roise

Last Updated: October 2024

The National Day of Mourning (NDOM) for many Indigenous peoples and nations whose homelands make up what is now called the United States of America takes place on Thanksgiving Day. Begun by The United American Indians of New England, “an annual tradition since 1970, National Day of Mourning is a solemn, spiritual and highly political day. Many of us fast from sundown the day before through the afternoon of that day. We are mourning our ancestors and the genocide of our peoples and the theft of our lands. NDOM is a day when we mourn, but we also feel our strength in action and solidarity.”

 Every year since 1970, hundreds of people gather on Wampanoag Nation homelands on this day, in downtown Plymouth at Cole’s Hill. Plymouth and its infamous rock where the Bradford English settlers came to shore are markers of the genocide and land dispossession. In protest of ongoing violence, participants of the National Day of Mourning event have buried the rock, boarded the Mayflower replica, and dressed the statue of former Plymouth Colony Governor William Bradford with Klu Klux Klan sheets. 

The dichotomy between the National Day of Mourning and the federal holiday of Thanksgiving, celebrated as a day of Native and settler friendship, illuminates the harmful hypocrisies our nation and institutions continue to uphold. The popular story of Thanksgiving narrates the first feast between the Wompanoag people who aided English settlers shortly after their arrival on the Mayflower. National Day of Mourning event founder Wampanoag Wamsutta (Frank) James reflects back on his ancestors’ history, “this action [of support] by Massasoit [the Pokanoket Wampanoag leader] 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.” 

In an interview between Alexis Bunten (Aleut/Yup’ik) of the Bioneers’ Indigeneity Program, and Chris Newell (Passamaquoddy), the Akomawt Educational Initiatives Director of Education, Bunten asks Newell about the myth of Thanksgiving written as a day of peace-making between Native Americans and settlers (Bunten, Deloria 2019). As Newell explains, the narrative of Thanksgiving taught to the American public today only started to emerge in the 19th century: In 1841, a publication written by Alexander Young claimed he found a letter that described the first Thanksgiving in the 1600s when the harvest took place between the Wompanoag and the Bradford people of the English Mayflower (Bunten). 

President Abraham Lincoln first declared Thanksgiving a national holiday on October 3rd, 1863, after author Sarah Josepha Hale urged him to create a national holiday that brought together a divided country after great casualties at the Battle of Gettysburg. From this co-authored story sprung today’s well known American creation myth to be cemented in the minds of settlers in perpetuity, still re-enacted by school children with cut-out hand paper turkeys over a century and a half later (Bunten). Author, historian, and first tenured professor of Native American history at Harvard University Philip J. Deloria (Dakota) describes the impact of the Thanksgiving story: “…the American colonies expanded, the Indians gave up their lands and faded from history, and the germ of collective governance found in the Mayflower Compact blossomed into American democracy” (Deloria 2019). 

After Lincoln’s Thanksgiving declaration, the holiday developed into a celebration of mythical Pilgrim and Wampanoag allyship, shaping early American history as an era of natural Indigenous population decline and settler occupation of open lands given by God. Deloria (2019) writes, “…American mythmakers discovered that the Pilgrims, and New England as a whole, were perfectly cast as national founders: white, Protestant, democratic, and blessed with an American character centered on family, work, individualism, freedom, and faith.” The story of Thanksgiving “aligned neatly with the defeat of American Indian resistance in the West” and diverted attention away from racial violence across the United States, including Jim Crow, racialized labor laws, marginalization of immigrant communities, and the rise of eugenics (Deloria 2019). Deloria writes, “at Thanksgiving, white New England cheerfully shoved the problematic South and West off to the side, and claimed America for itself” (Deloria 2019).

While there was a feast between the Wampanoag and the Bradford people, re-constructing historical narratives to reflect all participants’ perspectives reveals that the Mayflower’s 1620 arrival did not lead to a friendly meal. The Pilgrim and Wompanaoag feast referred to in the Thanksgiving myth occurred a year after the Pilgrims’ arrival celebrating their first harvest. According to historical accounts, the sound of English firearms alarmed Ousamequin/Massasoit, the Pokanoket Wampanoag leader, who traveled with his men to the Pilgrim’s settlement to “bear aid.” When Massasoit and his men arrived at the Pilgrims’ settlement, they found celebrations instead of battle, and were invited to join the Pilgrims at their feast. There was not nearly enough food for Massasoit and his 90 men, and so the Wampanoags hunted five deer in an act of ceremonial gift-giving, after which they feasted with the Pilgrims for three days (Tirado). 

The creation of the Thanksgiving myth exemplifies how those who have access to  power are able to write historical narratives regardless of factual accuracy. When examined from all perspectives, the Thanksgiving story taught to American school children is revealed as fabricated, with clear political motivations. Since the creation of the Thanksgiving holiday, American institutions – specifically educational institutions – have solidified a narrative of Native people vanishing from their homelands to leave “unsettled lands” free for settler colonial expansion without Indigenous resistance. The settler myth of early contact between Pilgrims and Wampanoag people being one of mutual aid and friendship works to remove settler guilt for the genocide and land dispossession of Indigenous peoples, while further erasing the continuation and sovereignty of Indigenous peoples and nations (Deloria 2019; Tuck & Yang 2012). Institutions of higher education, bearing the responsibility of funding research, scholarship, and subsequent dissemination, must reconcile their role in perpetuating false historical accounts for over a century.

Currently, the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe has an enrolled population of 3,200. Kisha James (Aquinnah Wampanoag/Oglala Lakota), granddaughter of Wamsutta Frank James, says, “When people perpetuate the myth of Thanksgiving they are not only erasing our genocide but also celebrating it. We did not simply fade into the background as Thanksgiving myth says, we have survived and thrived, we have persevered. The very fact that you are here is proof that we did not vanish” (Walker). The tribal website describes the tribe’s recognition history: the “Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe, also known as the People of the First Light, has inhabited present day Massachusetts and Eastern Rhode Island for more than 12,000 years. After an arduous process lasting more than three decades, the Mashpee Wampanoag were re-acknowledged as a federally recognized tribe in 2007. In 2015, the federal government declared 150 acres of land in Mashpee and 170 acres of land in Taunton as the Tribe’s initial reservation, on which the Tribe can exercise its full tribal sovereignty rights” (Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe). While the Wampanoag Nation is frequently unnamed in the Thanksgiving myth, the Nation is actively revitalizes language and continues active self-governance as a federally recognized tribal nation. 

Historian Jean O’Brien’s examination of primary accounts of local histories written from 1820-1860 reveals patterns of “firsting,” “replacing,” and “lasting” which aimed to  permanently categorize Native Americans as a racial identity existing only in an Pre-American past. This stagnant racial category rejects Indigenous futurity and Indigenous peoples as contemporary political citizens of modern nation-states. Such “last of” narratives erase Native nations from American contemporary knowledge and accelerate the embrace of myths that ease settler anxieties, like that of the Thanksgiving story (O’Brien 2010, Tuck & Yang, 2012). 

Modern implications of “firsting and lasting” have an impact on current day policy decisions. In March of 2020, the presidential administration moved to reverse the reservation designation for the Mashpee Wampanoag Nation. The administration argued that the tribe could not take land in trust because the Mashpee Wampanoag Nation was not federally recognized before the Federal Indian Reorganization Act of 1934 (Associated Press, 2021). While the case was dismissed, this attempt at reversal illustrates how tribal nations endure countless land and sovereignty rights violations in the United States. 

Recently, tribal sovereignty was challenged through the reconsideration of the Indian Child Welfare Act (ICWA), a 1978 statute that directs family courts overseeing Native American adoption cases to give preference to a member of the child’s family, then a member of the child’s tribe, and lastly a family from another tribal nation, before granting the adoption of a Native American child to a non-Native person/family. Arguments challenged the federal law were based on the idea that Native adoptees being kept with their communities violates equal protection rights. Yet, children are not protected by ICWA based on racial classifications, but the political distinction of tribal nations as sovereign with the right to decide what is best for their own children (Bravin, 2022). ICWA was upheld by the U.S Supreme Court on June 15th, 2023.

Deloria (2019) writes that the work now is to demand “better and truer Indian histories and an accounting of the obligations that issue from them.” In the context of the creation of the Thanksgiving myth, it is urgent that higher education institutions actively correct past wrongs and confront the ongoing settler colonial violences perpetuated through false and exclusionary narratives.

Recommendations for further reading/listening:

Blee, Lisa, and Jean M. O’Brien. Monumental Mobility: The Memory Work of Massasoit. UNC 

Press Books, 2019.

Brooks, Lisa Tanya. Our Beloved Kin: A New History of King Philip’s War. Yale University 

Press, 2018.

Deloria, Philip. “The Invention of Thanksgiving: Massacres, Myths, and the Making of the Great 

November Holiday.” The New Yorker, November 18, 2019. https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2019/11/25/the-invention-of-thanksgiving.

OBrien, Jean M. Firsting and lasting: Writing Indians out of existence in New England. U of 

Minnesota Press, 2010.

The Mashpee Wampanoag Want You to Know the Full History Behind Thanksgiving. 2021. All 

Things Considered. Washington, D.C: National Public Radio, Inc. (NPR).

Wisecup, Kelly, and Paula Peters. 2021. “Telling Our Story: An Interview with Paula Peters.” 

Early American Literature 56 (1): 209–18. https://doi.org/10.1353/eal.2021.0013.

Wilbur, Matika. 2020. “ThanksTaking or ThanksGiving?” All My Relations Podcast. 

https://www.allmyrelationspodcast.com/post/thankstaking-or-thanksgiving 

Ways to Talk to Family, Friends, and Colleagues About Thanksgiving 

Confronting the reality of what Thanksgiving means to many Indigenous peoples in the United States is no small task. The process of unlearning and re-educating yourself and others is part of a complex and long-term process which will not be achieved in one holiday dinner, no matter how many courses are served. Historical narratives we are taught about our country at a young age define how we think about who we are as individuals and as a country, making the work of unlearning personal. The myth of Thanksgiving is strongly associated with the founding of the country and the American identity, that when challenged may be met with defensiveness.

With this in mind, below are a few ways we can begin to do our part in undoing the centuries-old myth of Thanksgiving:

• Share the real story of Thanksgiving with your family and friends.

Take the time to share a brief history of the Thanksgiving myth that perpetuates Indigenous erasure in the United States. We suggest reading, The Invention of Thanksgiving by Philip Deloria and a brief timeline of the Mashpee Wampanoag’s tribal history. For younger children, BrainPop Jr. has an engaging video to teach children about the history of Thanksgiving. This time of reflection can include a land acknowledgment of the Native peoples whose homelands you now reside on. Explain that this day is also called the National Day of Mourning for Indigenous peoples all over the United States, and share a moment of silence for the ongoing violences against Indigenous peoples in the United States. As this may be the first time many are hearing these histories, you may want to engage in a discussion where you and your family members can respectfully discuss your reactions to hearing the real story of Thanksgiving.

1. Set concrete goals for your conversations.Think critically about realistic changes you can make and where your efforts will be most impactful. Meeting your dinner table company where they are is crucial for productive discussions. If your dinner party is new to, or particularly inflammatory to, political discussions, begin with sharing simple historical facts. If your family is vaguely attuned to social justice but needs recommendations for transforming ideas into action, share recommendations made by Native-led groups working towards decolonization or Land Back.. 
2. Incorporate traditional local Indigenous ingredients as an invitation to talk about cultural erasure and colonial histories that are intertwined with our food systems. A new, unique ingredient or recipe is an inviting way to begin difficult conversations. For those of us in the northeast, cranberries, maple syrup, and certain squashes are easy places to begin, although other additions could include chokecherries, pine, rose hips, staghorn sumac, or hickory nuts. This recipe for wojape, a maple-sweetened cranberry sauce, by Sean Sherman (Oglala Lakota) incorporates many of these ingredients. 
3. Move into uncomfortability. Some questions to consider: How can we give back to the land’s original stewards? How do we show gratitude to the land that continues to keep us alive everyday? What does it mean to love the land? How can I transmute grief into movement building?

Although the fourth Thursday of November is the National Day of Mourning, Indigenous erasure, genocide, femicide, and ecocide continue every day, making today just one of many days of mourning for our shared communities. For change to occur, allies must continue this work past Native American Heritage Month. Below are a few ideas for sustaining action:

1. Make a plan to pay regular reparations to grassroots Indigenous-led organizations. Consider paying a land “tax” to the community/nation whose ancestral homelands you live on.
2. Continue to educate yourself and those around you on the ongoing impacts of colonization. Once you begin to see how prevalent continued acts of coloniality and erasure are, call them out (in yourself, your friends, and the media).
3. Know whose lands you are on. Make it known. Take care of the lands you are on.

Bibliography:

AKOMAWT EDUCATIONAL INITIATIVE. “Akomawt Educational Initiative-Home.” Accessed November 17, 2022. https://www.akomawt.org/.

Associated Press. “Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe Wins Legal Battle over Trump Administration Appeal, Will Keep Reservation Status.” Boston.Com, February 20, 2021. https://www.boston.com/news/local-news/2021/02/20/mashpee-wampanoag-tribe-wins-legal-battle-over-trump-administration-appeal-will-keep-reservation-status/.

Bravin, Jess. “Supreme Court Hears Challenge to Law on American Indian Adoptions.” The Wall Street Journal, November 9, 2022. https://www.wsj.com/articles/supreme-court-hears-challenge-to-law-on-american-indian-adoptions-11668022491.

Blee, Lisa, and Jean M. O’Brien. Monumental Mobility: The Memory Work of Massasoit. UNC Press Books, 2019.

Bugos, Claire. “The Myths of the Thanksgiving Story and the Lasting Damage They Imbue.” Smithsonian Magazine, November 26, 2019. https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/thanksgiving-myth-and-what-we-should-be-teaching-kids-180973655/.

Bunten, Alexis. “3 Ways to Decolonize Thanksgiving.” Bioneers (blog), November 10, 2021. https://bioneers.org/3-ways-decolonize-thanksgiving/.

———. “The True, Indigenous History of Thanksgiving.” Bioneers (blog), November 23, 2019. https://bioneers.org/the-true-indigenous-history-of-thanksgiving-ztvz1911/.

Deloria, Philip. “The Invention of Thanksgiving: Massacres, Myths, and the Making of the Great November Holiday.” The New Yorker, November 18, 2019. https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2019/11/25/the-invention-of-thanksgiving.

Indian Country Today. “A Wampanoag Retelling of Thanksgiving,” November 4, 2021. https://indiancountrytoday.com/newscasts/steven-peters-11-04-2021.

Landry, Alysa. “Native History: It’s Memorial Day—In 1637, the Pequot Massacre Happened.” Indian Country Today, September 13, 2018. https://indiancountrytoday.com/archive/native-history-its-memorial-dayin-1637-the-pequot-massacre-happened.

Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe. “Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe.” Accessed November 17, 2022. https://mashpeewampanoagtribe-nsn.gov.

National Park Service. “Lincoln and Thanksgiving,” May 12, 2021. https://www.nps.gov/liho/learn/historyculture/lincoln-and-thanksgiving.htm.

Native-Land.ca. “Native Land Digital.” Accessed November 14, 2022. https://native-land.ca/.

OBrien, Jean M. Firsting and lasting: Writing Indians out of existence in New England. U of Minnesota Press, 2010.

Sherman, Sean. “‘The Sioux Chef’ Sean Sherman Makes Cranberry Wojape for Thanksgiving.” TODAY.com, April 13, 2022. https://www.today.com/recipes/sean-sherman-s-cranberry-wojape-recipe-t234773.

Thanksgiving. BrainPop Jr., 2020. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ew2VceueaNI.

Tirado, Michelle. “The Wampanoag Side of the First Thanksgiving Story.” ICT, September 13, 2018. https://indiancountrytoday.com/archive/the-wampanoag-side-of-the-first-thanksgiving-story.

Tuck, Eve, and K Wayne Yang. “Decolonization Is Not a Metaphor.” Decolonization: Indigeneity, Education & Society 1, no. 1 (2012): 1–40.

“United American Indians of New England.” Accessed November 17, 2022. http://www.uaine.org/.

Walker, Dalton. “400 Years Later, ‘We Did Not Vanish.’” ICT, November 25, 2021. https://indiancountrytoday.com/news/400-years-later-we-did-not-vanish.

Wamsutta (Frank B.) James Wampanoag. “The Suppressed Speech of Wamsutta (Frank. B) James, Wompanoag.” United American Indians of New England, 1970. http://www.uaine.org/suppressed_speech.htm.