The Day Thanksgiving Turned into the National Day of Mourning

Everyone knows the story of Plymouth Massachusetts being the landing site for the Pilgrims which later turned into the spot of the very first Thanksgiving. Because of this belief, Plimoth plantation and Plimoth Rock, both located in Plymouth Massachusetts, have become very famous destinations for people around Thanksgiving time.

What some people might not realize is that Plymouth Massachusetts is also the place where the Wampanoag Native American tribe declared that on Thanksgiving they will now celebrate National Day of Mourning instead of the myth of Thanksgiving. What prompted this declaration of National Day of Mourning and when did it begin?

National Day of Mourning Was Born

In November of 1970, the Commonwealth of Massachusetts invited the Wampanoag tribe of Native Americans and then leader Frank B. James to attend a Thanksgiving celebration ceremony where they asked Frank B. James to give a speech regarding his tribe's role in the very first Thanksgiving. They were shocked to learn what the Wampanoag tribe's leader, Frank B. James, was actually planning to say in his speech.

It turns out that the Wampanoag tribe was using their invitation to speak at the Thanksgiving ceremony as platform to voice their views on what Thanksgiving is really about. Frank B. James was going to use this opportunity to try and get the word out about what really happened in Massachusetts to his people and many tribes just like his.

The Wampanoag's were looking to dispel the notion that there was a mutual respect between the Pilgrims and the Native American's. This was proven through the violence and discrimination that resulted in the near extinction of the Native American race. Unfortunately, Frank B. James was never able to give that speech at it's intended Thanksgiving ceremony for all in attendance to hear.

Instead the speech of Wampanoag leader Frank B. James was given outdoors, at the top of Cole Hill, overlooking the original landing place of the Pilgrims. His speech went on to declare Thanksgiving, the fourth Thursday of November, to be National Day of Mourning. This day is a reminder to them of the near obliteration of their ancestors.

Every year on the fourth Thursday in November, supporters of the National Day of Mourning meet in Plymouth Massachusetts at the top of Cole Hill at exactly twelve noon for a protest against traditional Thanksgiving. The protesters then march the streets of historical Plymouth Massachusetts spreading their beliefs about the injustice of Thanksgiving.

National Mourning Day Continues On

The son of Frank B. James, the former leader of the Wampanoag tribe, was asked if the protesting will ever end. His response was:

" Some ask us: Will you ever stop protesting? Some day we will stop protesting: We will stop protesting when the merchants of Plymouth are no longer making millions of dollars off the blood of our slaughtered ancestors. We will stop protesting when we can act as sovereign nations on our own land without the interference of the Bureau of Indian Affairs and what Sitting Bull called the "favorite ration chiefs." When corporations stop polluting our mother, the earth. When racism has been eradicated. When the oppression of two spirited people is a thing of the past. We will stop protesting when homeless people have homes and no child goes to bed hungry. When police brutality no longer exists in communities of color. We will stop protesting when Leonard Pelltier and Mumia Abu Jamaland the Puerto Rican independentistas and all the political prisoners are free. Until then, the struggle will continue."

It has also been noted that the Wampanoag's state that the National Day of Mourning will continue until the history books of this country reflect the true story of what happened to their people.

For myself, and probably for many Americans, Thanksgiving has not been about the Pilgrims and the Native Americans for a long time. It is about us gathering with our family and our loves ones and giving thanks for all of the things in our life that we are grateful for. It's about looking at all we have instead of all we think we need.