Thanksgiving

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ORIGINS OF THANKSGIVING The year was 1637.....700 men, women and children of the Pequot Tribe, gathered for their "Annual Green Corn Dance" in the area that is now known as Groton, Conn.

While they were gathered in this place of meeting, they were surrounded and attacked by mercernaries of the English and Dutch. The Indians were ordered from the building and as they came forth, they were shot down. The rest were burned alive in the building.

The next day, the Governor of the Massachusetts Bay Colony declared : "A day of Thanksgiving, thanking God that they had eliminated over 700 men, women and children.

For the next 100 years, every "Thanksgiving Day" ordained by a Governor or President was to honor that victory, thanking God that the battle had been won.

Newell based his research on studies of Holland Documents and the 13 volume Colonial Documentary History, both thick sets of letters and reports from colonial officials to their superiors and the king in England, and the private papers of Sir William Johnson, British Indian agent for the New York colony for 30 years in the mid-1600s.

"My research is authentic because it is documentary," Newell said. "You can't get anything more accurate than that because it is first hand. It is not hearsay."

Newell said the next 100 Thanksgivings commemorated the killing of the Indians at what is now Groton, Connecticut [home of a nuclear submarine base] rather than a celebration with them. He said the image of Indians and Pilgrims sitting around a large table to celebrate Thanksgiving Day was "fictitious" although Indians did share food with the first settlers.



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Source: Documents of Holland, 13 Volume Colonial Documentary. History, letters and reports from colonial officials to their superiors and the King in England and the private papers of Sir William Johnson, Britsh Indian agent for the New York colony for 30 years.
Researched by William B. Newell (Penobscot Tribe) Former Chairman of the University of Connecticut Anthropology Department.

Children and Aliens

Sunrise wakes the morning
Mist in the trees dripping dew on the ground
Mother's breath touches my skin
Cooling my body

Touched by the unseen
Life, webbing its connection
It flows all around me
It flows through me

Melting into the ground
Moionless in Earth's embrace
Waking up from this reality
Body fading into light

Greeted by the trees
Time suspends
Horizon expands
Meaning interweaves with life

Reality Shatters!
Sucked back into the dream
Flames of fear consume the land
Life hides in the shadows

Drumbeats thunder in slow motion
Shock waves of fear ripple
Anxious. Listening. Instinct takes over
Pulsation disturbance grows louder

Aliens invade. Single file.
Steps pounding into the ground
Looking for life through their blindfolds
Rejoicing in an illusion

Empty hope strapped to their backs
White knuckle grip holds the crutches
Eyes focused down. Keep going forward
Distance remains. Must stay on track

Passed by unseen in plain sight
Dead space hides me
I move toward the path becoming visible
Every step is a silent prayer

"Farewell," I whisper into the wind.
"Come again," is whispered back.