Since 1970, a growing group of Native Americans and their supporters have gathered on Thanksgiving Day in Plymouth, Mass., at the top of Cole's Hill, overlooking Plymouth Rock, for the "National Day of Mourning" protest.
The historical event commonly known as the "First Thanksgiving" was held in 1621 by the Pilgrims and their Native American neighbors. Some people, particularly Native Americans, feel that the mythology surrounding the "First Thanksgiving" paints a distorted picture of the colonists' relations with the Native People, focusing on the mutual respect between the Wampanoag and Pilgrims in Plymouth, and ignoring the ensuing years of violence and discrimination against Native Americans.
In 1970, the Commonwealth of Massachusetts invited Wampanoag leader Frank B. (Wamsutta) James to deliver a speech at a Thanksgiving ceremony. However, when they learned that James' speech would focus on the history of oppression of Native Americans, the Commonwealth deemed his speech inappropriate for the occasion. Instead, James delivered his speech to a small crowd on Cole's Hill, declaring Thanksgiving to be a National Day of Mourning.
The National Day of Mourning protest in Plymouth has been held every year since, and is now led by James' son and a group James helped found in 1970, the United American Indians of New England. In addition to protesting Thanksgiving and issues of oppression, Native Americans use this day to honor their ancestors, and to draw attention to current issues, such as the incarceration of Leonard Peltier2.
A plaque on Cole's Hill reads:
"Since 1970, Native Americans have gathered at noon on Cole's Hill in Plymouth to commemorate a National Day of Mourning on the US Thanksgiving holiday. Many Native Americans do not celebrate the arrival of the Pilgrims and other European settlers. To them, Thanksgiving Day is a reminder of the genocide of millions of their people, the theft of their lands, and the relentless assault on their culture. Participants in a National Day of Mourning honor Native ancestors and the struggles of Native peoples to survive today. It is a day of remembrance and spiritual connection as well as a protest of the racism and oppression which Native Americans continue to experience."
