Vermont Office of Racial Equity derides the ‘myth of Thanksgiving,’ calls its ‘Day of Mourning for Indigeneous People’
By Michael Bielawski
The traditional Thanksgiving story in inaccurate and the real Thanksgiving is linked to genocide, according to information published by the Vermont Office of Racial Equity.
A “Day of mourning”?
The message states, “Day of mourning for Indigenous people in the U.S…..Americans are widely taught that their Thanksgiving is modeled on a 1621 harvest feast shared by the English colonists of Plymouth and the Wampanoag people.”
It then disputes this notion.
“The history is inaccurate and has generated numerous counter-observances over the years to honor the Indigenous people who were the ancestral stewards in the North American land before European contact and the genocide that resulted from it,” it states.
The message appears to also be about the Office of Racial Equity’s online cultural calendar.
350 Vermont
They are not the only group in Vermont that seems not too fond of Thanksgiving. Another entity, the climate-activist-oriented non-profit 350 Vermont, also recently posted about an event on X that also challenges its narrative, it took place on Nov. 17. It states, “Join us for ‘Rethinking Thanksgiving: Dismantling Colonial Myths, Uplifting Indigenous Rights and Honoring Mother Earth.”
They also get into their social justice work on their website. It states, “We must work to address how privilege and oppression show up in our organization as well as in the wider world.”
Columbus’s dramatic efforts forgotten?
In 2019, Vermont renamed the second Monday in October as Indigenous Peoples Day, previously known as Columbus Day. While this holiday is to celebrate the heritage of Native peoples, it disregards the dramatic efforts of 15th-century wooden ships to sail across the Atlantic to uncertain lands.
Numerous examples of ‘Thanksgiving’ feasts in history
James W. Baker, the senior historian at Plimoth Plantation, disputes the notion that there ever was a settled single event known as the first formal Thanksgiving.
Baker wrote for the History Channel, “The reason that we have so many myths associated with Thanksgiving is that it is an invented tradition. It doesn’t originate in any one event. It is based on the New England Puritan Thanksgiving, which is a religious Thanksgiving, and the traditional harvest celebrations of England and New England and maybe other ideas like commemorating the pilgrims. All of these have been gathered together and transformed into something different from the original parts.”
Baker highlights other similar historical events involving natives and foreigners enjoying harvest together.
“In 1565, for instance, the Spanish explorer Pedro Menéndez de Avilé invited members of the local Timucua tribe to a dinner in St. Augustine, Florida, after holding a mass to thank God for his crew’s safe arrival,” he writes.
Another example includes, “On December 4, 1619, when 38 British settlers reached a site known as Berkeley Hundred on the banks of Virginia’s James River, they read a proclamation designating the date as “a day of thanksgiving to Almighty God.”
He continues that some believe the story of Thanksgiving ultimately originates further back in Europe when fasting and harvests were a more regular reality of survival.
First Thanksgiving a three-day event?
The Smithsonian has a historical recap of what many consider to be the original modern American version of Thanksgiving. Their story highlights the role that a native, Squanto, who eventually became a translator for the Pilgrims and the natives.
How Squanto came to know English is he was previously captured and sold into slavery in Spain. After getting close with religious monks he won his freedom, he then learned English and became a successful shipbuilder in England. Eventually, he earned money to get back to America, only he found his village abandoned due to a plague.
The site of Squanto’s village is what eventually became the famous Plymouth settlement. The article noted the first Thanksgiving may have lasted a couple of days and included nearly 100 natives.
“In the fall of 1621, William Bradford, the governor of the Plymouth Colony, decided to have a Plymouth harvest feast of thanksgiving and invited Massasoit, the Grand Sachem of the Wampanoag Federation, to join the Pilgrims. Massasoit came with approximately 90 warriors and brought food to add to the feast, including venison, lobster, fish, wild fowl, clams, oysters, eel, corn, squash and maple syrup. Massasoit and the ninety warriors stayed in Plymouth for three days,” it states.
Not all turkeys fly
Baker’s report has tidbits about turkeys including whether they can really fly. The answer is it depends.
“Domesticated turkeys cannot fly, and their pace is limited to a slow walk. Female domestic turkeys, which are typically smaller and lighter than males, can move somewhat faster,” it says.
It continues that the domestic breed is at a disadvantage.
“Wild turkeys, on the other hand, are much smaller and more agile,” it states. “They can reach speeds of up to 20-25 miles per hour on the ground and fly for short distances at speeds approaching 55 miles per hour. They also have better eyesight and hearing than their domestic counterparts.”
Vermont’s turkeys are everyone’s turkeys?
Also, many turkeys that folks throughout the northeast eat for Thanksgiving ultimately originate from Vermont’s wild turkey population, according to a presser by the Department of Fish and Wildlife.
The author is a writer for the Vermont Daily Chronicle