Thanksgiving and perception

I found my trip last October to the New England states, besides all of the awesome views, to be highly educational. For years I learned history about Thanksgiving from the books and stories handed down by my parents, as taught in school, and from magazine articles. It was my 1st realization that winners get to do a rewrite of history. After visiting the Plimouth Plantation, I learned some interesting "facts" about Thanksgiving and Plimouth at the 1st Thanksgiving.

For instance, at the 1st Thanksgiving, the Settlers ate and as in the old country did military drills in celebration. They marched in the fields and the Native American Chief upon seeing this from the edge of the woods, brought in Native American men and they just materialized out of the woods into the fields and the settlement. The implication was that, he had many more men than all the Settlers combined and the ones being seen were just a token few to the many he could summon. Also at the 1st Thanksgiving, no Native American women were present, as it was just too dangerous.

In paintings and artists renderings of this period we see a few token Native American men scattered around, but in fact, the Native American men were over 100 at this "feast", and more numerous than all the Settlers at this colony. There were probably 30-40 men in this settlement and the chiefs show of his warriors was obvious. I also learned that while we celebrate Thanksgiving with gratitude, for the Native American it is a day of sorrow.

It is all in our perception, and as the facts are revealed we see the what really may have transpired then. With this lesson on history it gave me some fresh insights into this day of being grateful, but also allowed me to view other events in history with an new perception and outlook.

Follow this link to the website of Plimouth Plantation,
interesting what is "history" and what is "fact"

http://www.plimoth.org/learn/history/thanksgiving/fastandthanks.asp