I'm "Native American," and I like Thanksgiving. It's my favorite holiday.

by Anonymous 14 years ago

Thanksgiving celebrates the time BEFORE all of that happened, when the incoming Puritans were still somewhat friendly with the Natives. Y'know, before they got greedy and wanted more land.

by Anonymous 14 years ago

The massacre of indigenous peoples in the New World started well before the first Thanksgiving.

by Anonymous 14 years ago

Yes, I know. But the "New World" was considered to be all of North and South America. The Spanish had been killing the Incas, Mayans, and other peoples for centuries by then. But Thanksgiving celebrates the small group of settlers who came to Massachusetts, and that group in particular had not begun to massacre native peoples.

by Anonymous 14 years ago

You are correct that this specific group in the early Plymouth settlement had cordial relations with the Native Americans prior to the "First Thanksgiving," however, that does not make up for the fact that the New World's first settlers took part in the single-greatest human massacre in history. I trust you understand that because I sense that you understand history, unlike most people.

by Anonymous 14 years ago

I know. I was simply pointing out that Thanksgiving is celebrating a time when there were peaceful interactions between the new settlers and the native peoples. It doesn't make up for the massacre that soon came to pass, but it isn't celebrating it, as OP is trying to point out.

by Anonymous 14 years ago

Holocaust...

by Anonymous 14 years ago

The estimated indigenous population of the Western Hemisphere prior to New World expansion varies tremendously, as do the Holocaust figures. It's really a toss-up between the two genocides.

by Anonymous 14 years ago

Thats not what we're celebrating. we're celebrating how they helped us

by Anonymous 14 years ago

yea Thanksgiving is about how those people helped us survive

by Anonymous 14 years ago