The Truth Behind Thanksgiving

Photo by Erica Marsland Huynh on Unsplash

Whilst Thanksgiving is an American holiday, it has seeped its way across to the UK as many American traditions do. If you are thinking about Thanksgiving, celebrating, or even just making the most of the Black Friday sales that follow, it would be worth knowing the history behind this problematic holiday. 

The traditional Thanksgiving story is one of unity between the American Indians and the white settlers that arrived on the Mayflower in 1620. The story goes that the settlers stayed aboard the ship and suffered from exposure, scurvy and contagious disease which meant that half of the crew had died by spring.

When they came ashore they were supposedly greeted by American Indians who taught them how to live off the land on the Great Plains. Therefore, when their first crop was harvested, they had a celebratory feast in which some Wampanoag Indians attended. [1] This, then, formed the stereotype of unity and settler heroism which encapsulates Thanksgiving as we know it today. 

However, this is a classic example of the ways that American Indians have been exploited through their presentation in history books and the commonality of the white settler being presented as a ‘hero’, when, even in the story above, it is clear that it was the American Indians that saved the settlers. 

This tells a glorified history of the way that white settlers invaded the Great Plains and claimed their place there by ‘right of discovery’ - ironic considering that the American Indians had already been living there for thousands of years. The settlers were sure that the land belonged to them through their ‘Manifest Destiny’: the belief that it was their divine right to expand and take control of the land. [2] 

Prior to the Mayflower’s arrival, the Western Hemisphere was mostly isolated which meant that they had not been exposed to the diseases of the East. Indians began dying at an alarming rate when the settlers began travelling through their villages, making them easier to control and colonise. [3]

Michele Felice Corné (1752–1845), "The Landing of the Pilgrims" (detail), 1803. (U.S. Department of State, Diplomatic Reception Rooms) : Lindsay McVay, Everyone’s history matters: The Wampanoag Indian Thanksgiving story deserves to be known. [4]

For the American Indians, this was the beginning of the end of their traditional, Native culture. Since that day, the settlers expanded and the American Indian claim to land kept reducing until they were housed on reservations, a system that is still in place today.

This went against the fundamental lifestyle of the American Indians as they were no longer able to live nomadically and follow the Buffalo herds as they once did, not to mention the extensive disease and poverty. The saying ‘Kill Every Buffalo You Can! Every Buffalo Dead Is an Indian Gone’ was used as a marketing strategy to make the American Indians dependent on the American government, as the Buffalo were their main source for survival and this encouraged white settlers to hunt them for sport and entertainment. [5]

With this in mind, it is not a surprise that American Indians do not celebrate Thanksgiving and, instead, treat it as a ‘Day of Mourning.’ In the Bicentennial year, 1970, The American Indians were at the height of the Red Power movement and named it the ‘Year of Mourning’ which included a multitude of protests. For example, taking the replica Mayflower under siege and destroying the table at the Thanksgiving reenactment. Even though they staged these elaborate protests, they were largely ignored by the media and historians, and Thanksgiving is still celebrated despite their best efforts to display the truth behind this holiday. [6]

This is just one of many examples of how American Indian history has been constantly framed from the viewpoint of the white settler. This white dominated history has become so ingrained in current society that it is almost impossible to understand the true nature of the American Indian or understand the extent of the ‘genocide’ that the American Government have inflicted against them continually since 1620. [7]

American Indians are still fighting for their rights today, they are continually trying to prove that they are still here. They are often seen as something from the (very one-sided) history books, a culture that does not exist anymore, but they have been fighting for their self determination and culture since that ship first landed in 1620 and still are today. 

So, when you are sitting down for a meal at Thanksgiving, or enjoying those Black Friday sales, remember the commercialism and white settler agency that has provided the framework for this romanticised and false history of colonialism and oppression. 

By Isobel Turner - History Pathway, Editor

[1] History, Thanksgiving 2021, (A&E Television Networks: October 27, 2009), Updated: November 11, 2021, <https://www.history.com/topics/thanksgiving/history-of-thanksgiving> [Last Accessed 20. November 2021].

[2] Heidler, David S. Manifest Destiny, (Britannica, 20. August 2021) <https://www.britannica.com/event/Manifest-Destiny> [Last Accessed 20. November 2021]. 

[3] Lindsay McVay, Everyone’s history matters: The Wampanoag Indian Thanksgiving story deserves to be known, (Smithsonian, National Museum of the American Indian: 22. November 2017) <https://www.smithsonianmag.com/blogs/national-museum-american-indian/2017/11/23/everyones-history-matters-and-wampanoag-indian-thanksgiving-story-deserves-be-known/> [Last Accessed 20. November 2021]. 

[4] Ibid.

[5] Phippen, J Weston. Kill Every Buffalo You Can! Every Buffalo Dead Is an Indian Gone, (The Atlantic, 13. May 2016) <https://www.theatlantic.com/national/archive/2016/05/the-buffalo-killers/482349/> [Last Accessed 20. November 2021]. 

[6] Hitchmough, Sam. ‘Performative Protest and the Lost Contours of Red Power Activism’ in Comparative American Studies An International Journal, Vol. 17, Issue 2, (Taylor and Francis Online: 9. March 2020) <https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/14775700.2020.1736459> [Last Accessed 20. November 2021]. 

[7] Rosenbaum, Ron. The Shocking Savagery of America’s Early History, (Smithsonian Magazine: March 2013) <https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/the-shocking-savagery-of-americas-early-history-22739301/> [Last Accessed 20. November 2021].