65. THANKSGIVING: Revisiting the Origin Story

Weird Island

This week, as many get ready to celebrate Thanksgiving, I wanted to revisit the story of the Pilgrims and the first Thanksgiving that many of us learned as kids. Because, I found out as an adult that I didn’t really learn the full story–I learned a mythologized version of it. And I learned that while I heard a lot about the Pilgrims landing at Plymouth, I didn’t know as much about the Wampanoag people who were already in New England, many of whom were living in what is part of Rhode Island today.

Episode Source Material

• Image 9 of Massasoit's town Sowams in Pokanoket, its history, legends and traditions,
• Massasoit’s Illness, and How Winslow Cured Him - Account of Winslow visiting Massasoit Ousamequin
• Massasoit, Chief Who Signed Treaty With the Pilgrims, To Be Reburied | Smart News| Smithsonian Magazine
• Sowams Heritage Area Brochure
• Sowams Heritage Area Historical Overview
• Sowams Lives Four Centuries Later - coastalmags.com
• This Once Was Called Sowams - Reporter Today
• Pokanoket booklet FINAL SMALL.pdf
• with Ancient Records of Sowams and Parts Adjacent, illustrated. – Rhode Island History NavigatorSowams: with Ancient Records of Sowams and Parts Adjacent–Illustrated - Written by Thomas W Bicknell, 1908
• Burr's Hill
• Early History - Narragansett Indian Tribe.
• Mount Hope Farm To Celebrate 400 Years Since First Thanksgiving | Bristol, RI Patch
• All the Facts About Thanksgiving | Newport, RI Patch
• Proclamation - Thanksgiving Day - 1806, Rhode Island - WallBuilders
• For Indigenous people, Thanksgiving represents a day of mourning
• White House Thanksgiving Turkeys in the Roaring '20s
• How to Tell the Thanksgiving Story on Its 400th Anniversary | History| Smithsonian Magazine
• This tribe helped the Pilgrims survive for their first Thanksgiving. They still regret it 400 years later.
• Thanksgiving's hidden past: Plymouth in 1621 wasn't close to being the first celebration
• Wampanoag History
• Tribal chief who signed treaty with Pilgrims to be reburied
• Pokanoket - Wikipedia
• Wampanoag - Wikipedia
• History of the Pokanoket Tribe
• Pokanoket is the name of the Massasoit’s tribe, not “Wampanoag” – Sowams Heritage Area
• Pokanoket not Wampanoag in 17th century Sowams June 5, 2020
• Warren's History
• Burr’s Hill Pokanoket Royal Burial Ground – Sowams Heritage Area
• The Myths of the Thanksgiving Story and the Lasting Damage They Imbue | History| Smithsonian Magazine
• The true, dark history of Thanksgiving - Potawatomi.org
• Everything You Learned About Thanksgiving Is Wrong - The New York Times
• This Land is Their Land
• Culture — Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe
• In 1621, the Wampanoag Tribe Had Its Own Agenda
• Of Patuxet - Colonial Society of Massachusetts
• The History of the Pokanoket Tribal Diaspora