Thanksgiving:
The National
Day Of Mourning
By Wampsutta
23 November, 2006
Black
Commentator
When Frank James (1923
- February 20, 2001), known to the Wampanoag people as Wampsutta, was
invited to speak by the Commonwealth of Massachusettsat the 1970 annual
Thanksgiving feast at Plymouth. When the text of Mr. James’ speech,
a powerful statement of anger at the history of oppression of the Native
people of America, became known before the event, the Commonwealth "disinvited"
him. Wampsutta was not prepared to have his speech revised by the Pilgrims.
He left the dinner and the ceremonies and went to the hill near the
statue of the Massasoit, who as the leader of the Wampanoags when the
Pilgrims landed in their territory. There overlooking Plymouth Harbor,
he looked at the replica of the Mayflower. It was there that he gave
his speech that was to be given to the Pilgrims and their guests. There
eight or ten Indians and their supporters listened in indignation as
Frank talked of the takeover of the Wampanoag tradition, culture, religion,
and land.
That silencing of a strong
and honest Native voice led to the convening of the National Day of
Mourning. The following is the text of 1970 speech by Wampsutta, an
Aquinnah Wampanoag elder and Native American activist.
I
speak to you as a man -- a Wampanoag Man. I am a proud man, proud of
my ancestry, my accomplishments won by a strict parental direction ("You
must succeed - your face is a different color in this small Cape Cod
community!"). I am a product of poverty and discrimination from
these two social and economic diseases. I, and my brothers and sisters,
have painfully overcome, and to some extent we have earned the respect
of our community. We are Indians first - but we are termed "good
citizens." Sometimes we are arrogant but only because society has
pressured us to be so.
It is with mixed emotion
that I stand here to share my thoughts. This is a time of celebration
for you - celebrating an anniversary of a beginning for the white man
in America. A time of looking back, of reflection. It is with a heavy
heart that I look back upon what happened to my People.
Even before the Pilgrims
landed it was common practice for explorers to capture Indians, take
them to Europe and sell them as slaves for 220 shillings apiece. The
Pilgrims had hardly explored the shores of Cape Cod for four days before
they had robbed the graves of my ancestors and stolen their corn and
beans. Mourt's Relation describes a searching party of sixteen men.
Mourt goes on to say that this party took as much of the Indians' winter
provisions as they were able to carry.
Massasoit, the great Sachem
of the Wampanoag, knew these facts, yet he and his People welcomed and
befriended the settlers of the Plymouth Plantation. Perhaps he did this
because his Tribe had been depleted by an epidemic. Or his knowledge
of the harsh oncoming winter was the reason for his peaceful acceptance
of these acts. This action by Massasoit was perhaps our biggest mistake.
We, the Wampanoag, welcomed you, the white man, 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 free people.
What happened in those short
50 years? What has happened in the last 300 years? History gives us
facts and there were atrocities; there were broken promises - and most
of these centered around land ownership. Among ourselves we understood
that there were boundaries, but never before had we had to deal with
fences and stone walls. But the white man had a need to prove his worth
by the amount of land that he owned. Only ten years later, when the
Puritans came, they treated the Wampanoag with even less kindness in
converting the souls of the so-called "savages." Although
the Puritans were harsh to members of their own society, the Indian
was pressed between stone slabs and hanged as quickly as any other "witch."
And so down through the years
there is record after record of Indian lands taken and, in token, reservations
set up for him upon which to live. The Indian, having been stripped
of his power, could only stand by and watch while the white man took
his land and used it for his personal gain. This the Indian could not
understand; for to him, land was survival, to farm, to hunt, to be enjoyed.
It was not to be abused. We see incident after incident, where the white
man sought to tame the "savage" and convert him to the Christian
ways of life. The early Pilgrim settlers led the Indian to believe that
if he did not behave, they would dig up the ground and unleash the great
epidemic again.
The white man used the Indian's
nautical skills and abilities. They let him be only a seaman -- but
never a captain. Time and time again, in the white man's society, we
Indians have been termed "low man on the totem pole."
Has the Wampanoag really
disappeared? There is still an aura of mystery. We know there was an
epidemic that took many Indian lives - some Wampanoags moved west and
joined the Cherokee and Cheyenne. They were forced to move. Some even
went north to Canada! Many Wampanoag put aside their Indian heritage
and accepted the white man's way for their own survival. There are some
Wampanoag who do not wish it known they are Indian for social or economic
reasons.
What happened to those Wampanoags
who chose to remain and live among the early settlers? What kind of
existence did they live as "civilized" people? True, living
was not as complex as life today, but they dealt with the confusion
and the change. Honesty, trust, concern, pride, and politics wove themselves
in and out of their [the Wampanoags'] daily living. Hence, he was termed
crafty, cunning, rapacious, and dirty.
History wants us to believe
that the Indian was a savage, illiterate, uncivilized animal. A history
that was written by an organized, disciplined people, to expose us as
an unorganized and undisciplined entity. Two distinctly different cultures
met. One thought they must control life; the other believed life was
to be enjoyed, because nature decreed it. Let us remember, the Indian
is and was just as human as the white man. The Indian feels pain, gets
hurt, and becomes defensive, has dreams, bears tragedy and failure,
suffers from loneliness, needs to cry as well as laugh. He, too, is
often misunderstood.
The white man in the presence
of the Indian is still mystified by his uncanny ability to make him
feel uncomfortable. This may be the image the white man has created
of the Indian; his "savageness" has boomeranged and isn't
a mystery; it is fear; fear of the Indian's temperament!
High on a hill, overlooking
the famed Plymouth Rock, stands the statue of our great Sachem, Massasoit.
Massasoit has stood there many years in silence. We the descendants
of this great Sachem have been a silent people. The necessity of making
a living in this materialistic society of the white man caused us to
be silent. Today, I and many of my people are choosing to face the truth.
We ARE Indians!
Although time has drained
our culture, and our language is almost extinct, we the Wampanoags still
walk the lands of Massachusetts. We may be fragmented, we may be confused.
Many years have passed since we have been a people together. Our lands
were invaded. We fought as hard to keep our land as you the whites did
to take our land away from us. We were conquered, we became the American
prisoners of war in many cases, and wards of the United States Government,
until only recently.
Our spirit refuses to die.
Yesterday we walked the woodland paths and sandy trails. Today we must
walk the macadam highways and roads. We are uniting We're standing not
in our wigwams but in your concrete tent. We stand tall and proud, and
before too many moons pass we'll right the wrongs we have allowed to
happen to us.
We forfeited our country.
Our lands have fallen into the hands of the aggressor. We have allowed
the white man to keep us on our knees. What has happened cannot be changed,
but today we must work towards a more humane America, a more Indian
America, where men and nature once again are important; where the Indian
values of honor, truth, and brotherhood prevail.
You the white man are celebrating
an anniversary. We the Wampanoags will help you celebrate in the concept
of a beginning. It was the beginning of a new life for the Pilgrims.
Now, 350 years later it is a beginning of a new determination for the
original American: the American Indian.
There are some factors concerning
the Wampanoags and other Indians across this vast nation. We now have
350 years of experience living amongst the white man. We can now speak
his language. We can now think as a white man thinks. We can now compete
with him for the top jobs. We're being heard; we are now being listened
to. The important point is that along with these necessities of everyday
living, we still have the spirit, we still have the unique culture,
we still have the will and, most important of all, the determination
to remain as Indians. We are determined, and our presence here this
evening is living testimony that this is only the beginning of the American
Indian, particularly the Wampanoag, to regain the position in this country
that is rightfully ours.
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