A00088 - Native American Heritage Month: The Mashpees of Massachusetts
This week, the nation shall celebrate a national day of Thanksgiving
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thanksgiving_(United_States)
The original Thanksgiving has been portrayed as the peaceful coming together of two cultures -- the Pilgrims from England and the Wampanoag of Native America -- some 400 years ago.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pilgrims_(Plymouth_Colony)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wampanoag
However, like much of the history taught in schools, the portrayal of Native Americans has seldom been accurate and, indeed, the history of the Wampanoag before and since that inaugural Thanksgiving has been and is largely tragic. As noted in Wikipedia,
The Wampanoag ... are a Native American people and an Indigenous people of the Northeastern Woodlands based in southeastern Massachusetts and historically parts of eastern Rhode Island,[3] Their territory included the islands of Martha's Vineyard and Nantucket.
Today there are two federally recognized Wampanoag tribes:
From 1615 to 1619, the Wampanoag suffered an epidemic, long suspected to be smallpox. Modern research, however, has suggested that it may have been leptospirosis, a bacterial infection that can develop into Weil's syndrome. The epidemic killed many people, profoundly affecting the Wampanoag population. Researchers suggest that the losses from the epidemic were so large that colonists were able to establish their settlements in the Massachusetts Bay Colony more easily.[6] More than 50 years later, King Philip's War (1675–1676), led by Metacom, chief sachem of the Wampanoag people, and his allies against the colonists resulted in the death of 40 percent of the surviving tribe. Many male Wampanoag were sold into slavery in Bermuda or the West Indies, or on plantations and farms run by colonists in New England.
Historical records largely ignored the tribe after the late 18th century, although its people and descendants persisted. Some survivors continue to live in their historical homelands and maintain many aspects of their culture, while absorbing other peoples by marriage and adapting to changing economic and cultural needs in the larger society.
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As one might expect, the Wampanoag have an entirely different perspective on the Thanksgiving holiday. For the Wampanoag, it has tended to be a day of mourning rather than a day of celebration
https://www.washingtonpost.com/history/2021/11/04/thanksgiving-anniversary-wampanoag-indians-pilgrims/
However, just last year thanks to a change in administrations, the Wampanoags of Massachusetts -- the Mashpees -- received a great Christmas present by having some of their tribal lands restored. This restoration essentially ensures the survival of the Mashpees as a tribe for many years to come
https://www.nbcboston.com/news/local/mashpee-wampanoag-tribes-status-confirmed-ending-reservation-saga/2599079/
So, in a strange twist of fate, for the first time in some 400 years, the Mashpees of Massachusetts will be able to celebrate this Thanksgiving with us ... albeit for reasons of their own.
Peace,
Everett "Skip" Jenkins
Fairfield, California
November 21, 2022
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