9.7 – Think and Apply Activity 2
Before beginning this activity, review this brief summary of the reading text for Module 9: European Colonization of North America.
Colonization is when nations expand into new territories, often taking land and resources from Indigenous peoples. In the 1400s, European countries like Spain, France, and Great Britain began colonizing the Americas. Indigenous peoples had lived in the Americas for thousands of years with their own diverse cultures and systems. Early settlers, like those in Jamestown and Plymouth, survived with help from Native peoples but soon began taking their land. Colonization caused widespread suffering, including war, slavery, and disease.
Perspectives on the First Thanksgiving
1) Look at this painting, called “The First Thanksgiving”, by Jean Louis Gerome Farris (1915).
Draw a “see, think, wonder” chart (see below) in your notebook. Record your responses in the chart and discuss as a class.
When looking at the painting, what do I…
| SEE? | THINK? | WONDER? |
|---|---|---|
|
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After you and your classmates share your responses about this picture, talk about the questions below. How might this painting give us the perspective of one group being shown, and not another group?
- Who is giving the gifts?
- Who is receiving the gifts?
- Notice the positions of the people. Does that mean anything?
- Do you think this image was painted by someone from a colonizer culture or Indigenous culture?
- What do you think would be different if this image were painted today?
2) Next, click on the link to look at this painting, called “The First Thanksgiving-1621“, by Karen Rinaldo (1994).
This painting was done by an artist who researched historical records and first-person accounts from the Pilgrims who were present in 1621 at what is called the first Thanksgiving dinner. More specifically, it shows the surviving passengers of the Mayflower and the 91 Wampanoag Native Americans who attended the feast. While this may be a more accurate image of the first Thanksgiving, there is no complete record of what really happened–for example, this painting does not use accounts from Native Americans.
Answer the questions below (and compare this painting to the first one you saw).
- What do you “see” in this painting?
- How is this painting similar to and different from the first painting?
- How do you think colonizers and colonized groups view the experience differently?
- If you were a historian, which one would you use to describe the events of this time period (the first Thanksgiving), and why?
3) Read this quote by this activist of mixed Indigenous heritage (Allison Adele Hedge Coke):
| “What were they celebrating? [The Pilgrims] were celebrating taking over. They were celebrating colonization. They were not celebrating the indigenous people who had helped them survive…” |
|---|
When growing up, Hedge Coke’s older sister Stephanie attended the National Day of Mourning instead of celebrating Thanksgiving. This “day of mourning” is an annual protest organized since 1970 to condemn Thanksgiving. Her father taught his children that it was “a meal where you invite people over and they forget to go home. The [colonists] certainly never sailed back to Europe,” she said.
Discuss as a class: What do you think about Alison Adele Hedge Coke’s perspective? Does it change the image of Thanksgiving history?
