New Bedford Guide Your Guide to New Bedford and South Coast, MA
Ah, Thanksgiving. The time of year where family and friends re-unite to enjoy each other’s company, reconnect, and enjoy some delicious home-cooking.
It also means the outbreak of dry, boring, and bland articles on the history of the holiday. Typically these articles cover the same old ground, try to creatively rehash the old material into something “new,” and even offer revisionist versions of history in an often, extreme way.
I’m a firm believer that history is incredibly fascinating, compelling and of interest to everyone, not just history nerds, professors or readers. Often, the lack of interest isn’t the topic – there’s something for everyone – but its delivery. The topic of history has become synonymous with dry, dull and boooooring. Over the years, people have come to only click on history articles for the fantastic vintage photos. But, can history be conveyed in an way that is interesting to just about anyone? To generate enough interest that people will go outside the article’s scope to learn more?
Often this leads to a swing in the other direction – one that overcompensates by being edgy, dressing the “same ‘ol” using swears and foul language, slang and references to pop culture. It’s not that I’m against these things, it’s just that adding them to the same exact story is really just ornamentation and changing your shirt and saying that you are a different person. Attach a sensational headline and it is considered “success.” It doesn’t have to be that way. There are always aspects or angles of the story that differ from the common ones that everyone covers. They just need a little digging and coaxing.
I’m going to make an attempt to write a balanced article on history, in this case, Thanksgiving. I’m sure you guys will let me know if I failed or where I failed. We’re always interested in feedback, so let me have it. With constructive criticism, I’ll make the next one better or ditch the idea completely…or fire myself.
The First Thanksgiving
As the story goes, in 1621, the Pilgrims and local Wampanoag Indian tribes celebrated their first successful harvest together. The pilgrims wouldn’t have survived without the help of the natives and this was their way of saying “Thanks for giving.”
But, guess what? This is only part of the truth. In fact, the coming together of Wampanoags and Pilgrims was incidental, not planned. Some Pilgrims were sent out to hunt for some meat to have on the table for their harvest feast. Their gunshots were heard by the natives in the area and they rushed to tell the leader at that time, Massasoit, that the Pilgrims must have been preparing for war.
Almost 100 Indians arrived to investigate and were likely ready for a throw-down. However, when they found out what was really going on, they decided to help out – again, just partly true, but more on that later? What brings different cultures together better than sharing a meal?
