I found a great web page that I wanted to share with you all about the true history of Thanksgiving and I wanted to paste and copy some important things:
Today the town of Plymouth Rock has a
Thanksgiving ceremony each year in remembrance of the first
Thanksgiving. There are still Wampanoag people living in
Massachusetts. In 1970, they asked one of them to speak at
the ceremony to mark the 350th anniversary of the Pilgrim's
arrival. Here is part of what was said:
"Today is a time of celebrating for you -- a time of
looking back to the first days of white people in America.
But it is not a time of celebrating for me. It is with a
heavy heart that I look back upon what happened to my
People. When the Pilgrims arrived, we, the Wampanoags,
welcomed them with open arms, little knowing that it was
the beginning of the end. That before 50 years were to
pass, the Wampanoag would no longer be a tribe. That we and
other Indians living near the settlers would be killed by
their guns or dead from diseases that we caught from them.
Let us always remember, the Indian is and was just as human
as the white people.
Although our way of life is almost gone, we, the
Wampanoags, still walk the lands of Massachusetts. What has
happened cannot be changed. But today we work toward a
better America, a more Indian America where people and
nature once again are important."
Intense everybody, but fortunately I had an opportunity to connect with some of the Wampanoag people who were so grateful that my second grade class remembered them and I sent artful drawings of appreciation to the Wampanoag tribe up North thanking them for how they have helped us out, anyone on this land. I will bring them to class to show!
Anyhow, the site I recommend on the web is here:
http://www.2020tech.com/thanks/temp.html#story
Do check out this valuable historical information, it is worth reading.