Hi Keith - I thought you might enjoy a Public Broadcasting System (PBS) American Experience video entitled:
We Shall Remain: After the Mayflower, Pt. 1 of 5 peace, Frank -----Original Message----- From: Keith Hudson <[email protected]> To: RE-DESIGNING WORK, INCOME DISTRIBUTION, , EDUCATION <[email protected]> Sent: Wed, Nov 24, 2010 4:06 am Subject: [Futurework] What really happened at Plymouth Here I'm copying from the suberb delanceyplace website wherethey select a page or two from a (fairly) recent book. "In today's encore excerpt -- Thanksgiving. The meeting in 1621between 'Squanto', other Native Americans and the Pilgrims, as seen fromthe perspective of those Native Americans:" <<<< On March 22, 1621, an official Native American delegation walked throughwhat is now southern New England to negotiate with a group of foreignerswho had taken over a recently deserted Indian settlement. At the head ofthe party was an uneasy triumvirate: Massasoit, the sachem(political-military leader) of the Wampanoag confederation, a loosecoalition of several dozen villages that controlled most ofsoutheastern Massachusetts; Samoset, sachem of an allied group tothe north; and Tisquantum ['Squanto'], a distrusted captive whomMassasoit had reluctantly brought along as an interpreter. Massasoit was an adroit politician but the dilemma he faced would havetested Machiavelli. About five years before, most of his subjects hadfallen before a terrible calamity. Whole villages had been depopulated[from disease] -- indeed the foreigners ahead now occupied one ofthe empty sites. It was all he could do to hold together the remnants ofhis people. Adding to his problems, the disaster had not touched theWampanoag's longtime enemies -- the Narragansett alliance to the west.Soon Massasoit feared they would take advantage of the Wampanoag'sweakness and overrun them. Desperate threats require desperate countermeasures. In a gambleMassasoit intended to abandon, even reverse, a long-standing policy.Europeans had been visiting New England for at least a century. Shorterthan the natives, oddly dressed, and often unbearably dirty, the pallidforeigners had peculiar blue eyes that peeped out of the masks of bristlyanimal-like hair that encased their faces. They were irritatinglygarrulous, prone to fits of chicanery, and often surprisingly incompetentat what seemed to Indians like basic tasks. But they also made useful and beautiful goods -- copper kettles,glittering colored glass, and steel knives and hatchets -- unlikeanything else in New England. Moreover they would exchange these valuableitems for cheap furs of the sort used by Indians as blankets. It was likehappening upon a dingy kiosk that would swap fancy electronic goods forcustomers' used socks. Over time, the Wampanoag, like other native societies in coastal NewEngland, had learned how to manage the European presence. They encouragedthe exchange of goods, but would only allow their visitors to stay ashorefor brief, carefully controlled excursions . . . . Now Massasoit wasvisiting a group of British with the intent of changing the rules. Hewould permit the newcomers to stay for an unlimited time -- provided theyformally allied with the Wampanoag against the Narragansett. Tisquantum the interpreter had shown up alone at Massasoit's home a yearand a half before. He spoke fluent English because he had lived forseveral years in Britain. But Massasoit didn't trust him . . . Andhe refused to use him to negotiate with the colonists until he hadanother independent means of communication with them.. . . Their meetingwas a critical moment in American history. The foreigners called theircolony Plymouth; they themselves were the famous Pilgrims. Asschoolchildren learn, at that meeting the Pilgrims obtained the servicesof Tisquantum -- usually known as 'Squanto.' [In our high school texts the story is told that] 'a friendly Indiannamed Squanto helped the colonists. He showed them how to plant corn andhow to live on the edge of the wilderness. A soldier, Captain MilesStandish, taught the Pilgrims how to defend themselves against unfriendlyIndians.' The story isn't wrong so far as it goes. But the impression itgives is entirely misleading. >>>> From 1491 by Charles C. Mann (Vintage 2005, 2006) Keith Hudson, Saltford, England _______________________________________________ Futurework mailing list [email protected] https://lists.uwaterloo.ca/mailman/listinfo/futurework
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