Thanksgiving: A Native American View by Jacqueline Keeler--Part Two

Jacqueline Keeler is a member of the Dineh Nation and the Yankton Dakota Sioux. Her work has appeared in Winds of Change, an American Indian journal.

When the Pilgrims came to Plymouth Rock, they were poor and hungry -- half of them died within a few months from disease and hunger. 

Samuel de Champlain's 1605 map of Plymouth Harbor, showing Wampanoag village Patuxet, with some modern place names added for reference. The star is the approximate location of the 1620 English settlement, which was near existing native villages.

When Squanto, a Wampanoag man, found them, they were in a pitiful state. He spoke English, having traveled to Europe, and took pity on them. 

 Tisquantum ("Squanto"), from a lithograph (1873). Note his European gun.

Their English crops had failed. The native people fed them through the winter and taught them how to grow their food.

Unlike the Pilgrims, this African woman has a good harvest. By Claude Renault 

These were not merely "friendly Indians." They had already experienced European slave traders raiding their villages for a hundred years or so, and they were wary -- but it was their way to give freely to those who had nothing. 

Among many of our peoples, showing that you can give without holding back is the way to earn respect.