DELVE DEEPER INTO PLYMOUTH COLONY AND WAMPANOAG HISTORY
SMD SC encourages everyone to learn more about the beginnings of Plymouth Colony, including the Mayflower passengers, the Wampanoag Tribe, and their relationship with each other. This history is much more rich than many of us have been taught! We strive to debunk the Thanksgiving myth and provide resources to promote authentic discussions of the first encounters and relationship (including the struggles) between the Plymouth Colonists and the Wampanoag people, who had lived on that land for thousands of years.
The first harvest celebration was not a “Thanksgiving,” which would have been a solemn occasion, but a community celebration of surviving their first year and a successful harvest. The Wampanoag people joined the celebration, bringing 5 deer for the feasting. The festivities lasted about 3 days.
The Education and Junior Committees have jointly worked to gather well researched books, videos, and other resources for parents, teachers, and children to explore. Because most of the history we are exposed to has a European/colonist perspective, we have provided several resources recommended by the Wampanoag Tribe. We have also attempted to provide resources that present authentic perspectives of our history. For instance, we chose well-founded research, and we chose stories which consider the perspective, politics, and rich culture of the Wampanoag people and/or the Mayflower colonists.
We hope that all will enjoy exploring these resources. If you would like to assist in maintaining and updating these resources, please contact Kristen French, Education Assistant, kristenfrench.sc.mayflower@gmail.com.
PRIMARY AND SECONDARY RESOURCES
Mayflower/Plymouth primary resources
This Google Library lists links to primary documents (available as eBooks through Google Books) which have been transcribed into a typed format. Use these for finding concurrent recorded evidence of the lives of Mayflower passengers and the laws and happenings of their community.
This booklet prints the earliest known copy of the Mayflower Compact, lists the signers, and discusses the history of the document.
RECOMMENDED READING
This Land Is Their Land: The Wampanoag Indians, Plymouth Colony, and the Troubled History of Thanksgiving by David J. Silverman was reviewed in The Mayflower Quarterly (Spring 2020, Vol 86, No 1, p 39) by Jim Baker, historian and former Director of Research at Plimoth Plantation. “This Land Is Their Land is also an excellent jargon-free source on inter-racial economic and social relations in Plymouth Colony history apart from the common focus on military and political factors. It is an excellent re-examination, soundly based on extensive historical evidence that document the effect colonial expansion, laws, and Christianity had on indigenous cultures of Southern New England. Highly recommended.”
