RESTORING A PEOPLE, REBUILDING A NATION
'After a colonial militia had returned from murdering the men, women, and children of an Indian village, the governor proclaimed a holiday and feast to give thanks for the massacre. He encouraged other colonies to do likewise -- in other words, every autumn the crops are in, go kill Indians and celebrate your murders with a feast.'
"The historical official Thanksgiving Day was not even a day completely given to thanks and praise, as the Pilgrims were accustomed to doing. This day was primarily a show of military power for the Indians" (House of Yahweh, Abilene, TX).
In 1675-1676 the Pilgrims wanted to show gratitude to the Indians for what Massasoit people showed the Pilgrims fathers and grandfathers. So the Pilgrims disarmed the Wampanoag people and went after them with guns, swords, cannons and torches. Indians and their chief Metacomet were butchered and his wife and son were sold into slavery in the West Indies and for twenty five years Metacomet skull was displayed on a pike above the Pilgrims village. The Wampanoag people had been literally wiped out except for their names, most survivors found refuge in other Indian nations and intermarried with some slaves and freedmen. By 1970, the Wampanoag had revealed a copy of a Thanksgiving proclamation made by the governor of the colony, it reads:
First harvest observed in the New World - 1621
Ceres "the harvest goddess"
Thanksgiving was made a holiday in the year of 1861, settlers had already brought their traditions to America—all influenced by Pagans. When the pilgrims invited local Native Indians to share a meal with them in 1621, so it is said, will touch more on this story of the New World later. The real origins of Thanksgiving was an annual harvest which was one of the oldest holidays known to mankind. The Romans celebrated this day in early October. It was dedicated to the goddess of harvest, Ceres, and the Romans called the holiday "Cerelia." The custom was to select a harvest queen so she could be decorated with the grain of their fields and the fruit of their trees. On Thanksgiving she was paraded through the streets in a carriage drawn by white horses, this would stand in honor of "Ceres", the harvest goddess. The survivors of the Mayflower, pilgrims, celebrated their first harvest in the New World/America in 1621 at the Plymouth Plantation. It is said Governor Bradford invited the Indian Chief Massasoit and the Wampanoag people to share a meal with them. Yet, the truth is rather different. Massasoit welcomed the pilgrims to the shores where the Wampanoag people lived for millennia. Massasoit and the Pilgrims agreed to a treaty which said that none of Massasoit's men would harm the Pilgrims--and if they did, he would send them to the Pilgrims for punishment. And if anyone did unjust war against Massasoit, the Pilgrims would come to his aid. They also agreed that when trading, the Indians would not bring their bows and arrows, and the Pilgrims would not bring their guns. The Native Indians taught the European colonist how to adapt to their new dwellings by showing them how, when and what crops to plant, how to harvest, dry and preserve them. After Massasoit death his son Metacomet became chief and the colonist called him King Philp.
The National Day of Mourning is an annual protest organized since 1970 by Native Americans of New England on the fourth Thursday of November, the same day as Thanksgiving in the United States.
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