What Happened Between The Pilgrims And The Natives On Thanksgiving?

Today nobody can say what exactly happened between the Pilgrims and the Natives on the first Thanksgiving of 1621.

Because we have no proper historical evidence of that event.

However, here we will try to evaluate two different perspectives based on the views of two groups.

The First Viewpoint

The first event of Thanksgiving was celebrated in 1621 between the months of September and November. The exact day and month are still unknown.

Around 53 Pilgrims of Plymouth organized the event as a joy of the success of their first successful harvesting in the New World.

The celebration lasted for three days.

It is said that during the event, around 90 Wampanoag Native Americans participated with them, they went there by accident, hearing the sound of celebratory gunfire.

The Pilgrims warmly welcomed the Wampanoag leader and his people and shared their food items with them.

The Second Viewpoint – What Happened Between The Pilgrims And The Natives On Thanksgiving?

However, this second viewpoint sees the first Thanksgiving in a completely different way and calls it Whiteman propaganda to hide their brutality, it’s like a fairy tale.

According to this viewpoint, nothing happened in that picture-perfect way, as we are taught today in schools and colleges about the event.

The time period, when the Pilgrims organized the first Thanksgiving was an era of rivalry between the Natives and European settlers.

At that time, White Europeans and Indians were trying to kill and destroy each other. Especially, new settlers had an upper hand on the destructions.

So from this point of view, there was no chance of sharing their food with those 90 Native People. Instead, it is said that Pilgrims robbed the Natives’ food items. 

Many people also believe that all the stories were created during the time of the American Civil War in 1863.

President Abraham Lincoln used this story of the first Thanksgiving to calm the situation and bring all people together because his nation was badly divided.

[Do You Know? Each Year, On The Day of Thanksgiving, Native American People In The United States Observe The National Day of Mourning. The Observation Started In 1970]