W hen you think of Thanksgiving, chances are good you’ll drum up all the typical trappings embraced by our unsuspecting masses. From an abundance of family and food, to the Macy’s Day Parade and football, followed by Black Friday’s turkey leftovers, you’re at least in good company. What you definitely won’t think of are the things of true relevance, such as how grateful we should be for our Native American allies, and how integral American Indians are to our

founding history, which Thanksgiving only pays token homage to.  The United States enjoys acclaim as the defender of truth and liberty, yet we wouldn’t know it if we were to look with brutal honesty at how misdirected our recollections of the famous 1621 event have been.

In reality, most of what we have been taught to believe about the first thanks-giving and our aboriginal brethren is actually a Victorian blend of history and myth. The very THEME of an authentic, uncensored Thanksgiving observance has a truth and integrity far beyond what our forbears were able or willing to acknowledge, and then pass down.  At its long lost core, Thanksgiving harbours a remembrance much deeper, and more innately in tune with the great melting pot nation that we have become, and that we all know and love today.

So what do we teach our children with the passing of each holiday season?  Sadly, we teach them what we think we know – which is really just a die-hard version of the same white washed history that we were invited to romance in our own K-12 classrooms. 

To give just one example of what has been misrepresented, let us look more closely at the motives behind the holiday’s inception. Unbeknownst to most, the institution of this holiday in 1863 was not intended to commemorate any form of early interracial exchange between Pilgrims and Wampanoag.  In fact, the original impetus for Thanksgiving involved a political side-step, or a cover-up, as America was at that time busy subduing the heathen aboriginal out on the plains.  In reality the sole intent of president Abraham Lincoln in instituting the observance was to unite white north and south torn apart by the decimations of our Civil War. 

Thus our beloved holiday was born with its emphasis on our English beginnings.

As Americans find more pleasure in taking honest stock of our amazing heritage, the holiday’s pseudo emphasis on plentiful food, or even the Pilgrim’s call to give thanks to God for it, can give way to celebrating the greater miracles of early Plymouth.

So, just what is the true meaning and unrealized story of this auspicious holiday?  What is it that we have overlooked in our love for tradition? 

It would be the underlying cause of all that food, and the underlying cause of a desire to give thanks, that would constitute what we have missed. 

That underlying cause was, in simplest terms, the astonishing alliance made between the English refugees of the Mayflower, and the Wampanoag tribes of the Cape Cod region.  At a time when religious and cultural differences were explosive, and far more repugnant to opposing parties than mere variances in skin colour; and at a time when the native inhabitants of our eastern shores had every reason to mistrust and repel Europeans, mutual regard found a precarious yet exemplary foothold.

In honest hindsight credit must go to our Wampanoag forebears for carrying the initial burden of this historic alliance, and giving it room for success.  It was they who went above and beyond to sow the first seeds of good will in that fragile relationship.  Extending themselves far beyond simple charity, the Wampanoag rendered a generous foundation for rural living upon which the English could not only survive, but hope to achieve economic advancement through trade.

And advance they did.  Euro-centric America grew up to become the wealthiest nation in the world.

The great irony of this outcome is that of all our ethnic sectors today, it is American Indians who now comprise our poorest socio-economic segment.  So poor in fact, and so long out of sight by reason of segregation, that mainstream America hardly understands we have a crisis that exceeds inner city poverty by comparison, and that is third-world in severity. 

Regardless of what all has transpired to create this chronic irony, it seems grossly out of American context that we should turn a blind eye to the Native American plight. This is especially so during the Thanksgiving season when it is such an unbecoming pity that the descendants of the Wampanoag and other native tribes are not remembered with greater sincerity and 1621 like-kindness.  If they were, perhaps even U.A.I.N.E. could rejoice in our shared Plymouth heritage. 

Lucky for us all, nothing says the status quo is so holy it cannot be changed for the better. 

Resurrecting the forgotten alliance of 1621 and incorporating it as integral part of Thanksgiving observances makes perfect sense for our maturing nation.  Not only does it have the potential to help end a century and a half of botched Indian Policy, but it could set in motion a greater patriotism and love for all that makes us uniquely American.  What’s more, calling forth this historic alliance could actually be easier and more light-hearted than people might imagine.

With the many resources readily available today, re-learning the historical ropes in short order is an enjoyable task, and can be as simple as joining company with the edutainment experts at 3 Sun Thanksgiving™.  Through their membership website, 3SunThanksgiving.com, citizens from across the country can join forces in a common  cause and hobby, and receive an array of hobby support for creating historically relevant family, group and community activities for the summer and fall seasons.  And the best part is, 3 Sun membership dues are utilized in large part to restore the 1621 alliance.

Specifically, dues are used in 1621 like-fashion to reciprocate a modern form of entrepreneurial assistance to our hardest hit aboriginal communities.  No government bureaucracy is involved, and predatory lending by the mainstream banking industry is avoided and replaced with fiscally sound compassion.  There’s even an additional benefit for our greater whole, in that eventually the investment will provide a boost to the general economy, offer tax relief, and help to reduce poverty-related crime. 

No human trek in history has ever been perfect, and certainly America’s trek has been no exception.  However, it’s never too late to bring kindness and closure to the more painful outcomes of America’s past.  In essence, it’s time to set our outdated Victorian notions free and grow a new harvest for Thanksgiving… 

And not just a harvest of food, but a lasting harvest of returned compassion that more fittingly reflects the wonderful nation that we have created, fought and died for. 

We must not let apathy begin and end at our own doorsteps.  All Americans are being asked to stir up a renewed passion for our early history, that the true story of Thanksgiving might serve us in a much greater capacity.  As honest Americans move to make this cultural holiday change, the momentum created will in time bring due honour to both our English and Wampanoag forefathers who so heroically exemplified the ultimate greatness of humanity, and the fledgling American dream.  Their rare and beautiful footsteps mark for us the glorious path to peace and mutual prosperity that our beloved day or two of over-eating can never hope to travel, let alone outshine.

Article by Carrie Franzwa, with a little bit of help from friends and colleagues.  This article is protected under copyright law.  Permission is granted to reproduce this article for the sole purpose of raising awareness of the new holiday concept introduced by 3 Sun Thanksgiving.   

Copyright © 2011, Carrie Franzwa and 3SunThanksgiving.com.  All rights reserved.