The first episode of this series was about the true story of the Thanksgiving story. While the American version only talks about the beginning, the Native story tells how it ended. The Wampanoag was the tribe who first saw the pilgrims, and many members of their tribe wanted to simply kill the English settlers off. The chief, however, felt the pilgrims were fragile and could be easily dealt with if they became disruptive.
An epidemic had been killing the Wampanoag off and they needed allies. Thus an alliance of convenience was formed between the two. Unfortunately they each had very different ideas on what this treaty meant. To the Wampanoag the treaty was a way for the two people to come together. They were becoming one people and this bond would unify them. To the English pilgrims, the Indians were simply an obstacle to be used and then discarded when they were through.
The first generation was able to live in peace because they needed each other. Once the English population swelled, they no longer needed the Indians and they were discarded. They had no tolerance for differences so they tried to convert the Indians to their way of life. They pushed and pushed until the new chief, Philip, was forced to declare war.
Interestingly enough, it was the intervention of the Mohawk tribe on behalf of the English that turned the tide of the war. Had the Mohawk not gotten involved, them English may have been pushed into the sea. It is a sad thing indeed that the Native American tribes contributed to their own demise in such a way.
So the real story of the first Thanksgiving ends with the children of the pilgrims killing all of the Indians who helped their parents survive... such a sad sad tale...
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I too was very much affected by the story of Phillip and his Father. I thought it was horrific that the head of Phillip was left on the pike of the Pilgrim village for two decades, and here I thought that Pilgrims were religious... It is an example of the colonialist lack of honor. The Native Americans were known for not going back on their word and for being very honorable, therefore they could not have expected such deceit from the white settlers because they were not used to deceitful people. It also resonated with me that the Native Americans had the chance to get rid of those original settlers, but naively thought they would not be a problem, how much of a problem they turned out to be...
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