Pilgrims

Half the class will don funny hats and call themselves pilgrims. Another group will wear feathers in their hair and brown paper-bag vests to be “Indians.” One unlucky soul will portray the ill-fated turkey in this yearly reenactment of the First Thanksgiving in primary classrooms across the US. This type of role-playing simplifies the relationship between these English colonists and the Wampanoag People. This type of play teaches young students good lessons about perseverance and cooperation, but often glosses over the challenges and sacrifices that are part of the history of the First Thanksgiving.

It’s November, and the store circulars and holiday flyers are full of familiar Thanksgiving-themed images. Happy plump Pilgrims, holding a variety of foodstuffs ranging from roast turkey to pumpkins to ears of corn, stand alongside pink-cheeked Native Americans, ready to celebrate the first Thanksgiving in the bountiful New World. The reality, of course, was much different.