thanksgiving myths

BELL RINGER (1/2 SHEET, 5 MIN, COMPLETE SENTENCES)

1. Who is the intended audience for the cartoon?

2. What might the audience learn from the cartoon?

3. Why is Thanksgiving celebrated?

1. THEE FIRST THANKSGIVING WAS IN 1621 AND WAS CELEBRATED EVERY YEAR

1. THE FIRST THANKSGIVING WAS IN 1621 AND WAS CELEBRATED EVERY YEAR

They didn’t call it Thanksgiving

It was not repeated every year

Became a national holiday in 1863

WHEN DO YOU CELEBRATE THANKSGIVING

2. THE ORIGINAL FEAST TOOK PLACE ON THE 4TH THURSDAY IN NOV.

2. THE ORIGINAL FEAST TOOK PLACE ON THE 4TH THURSDAY IN NOV.

We don’t know the exact date

Between Sep. 21 and Nov. 11

3. THE SETTLERS WORE ONLY BLACK AND WHITE CLOTHING WITH BUCKLES ON THEIR HATS AND SHOES

Buckles became popular almost 100 years later

Black and white was only worn on Sundays and special occasions

4. THE SETTLERS WERE CALLED PILGRIMS EVER SINCE THEY LEFT ENGLAND AND EVEN CALLED THEMSELVES THE NAME

What is the definition the textbook gives you?

4. THE SETTLERS WERE CALLED PILGRIMS EVER SINCE THEY LEFT ENGLAND AND EVEN CALLED THEMSELVES THE NAME

Someone who makes a pilgrimage; a journey for religious reasons

Term pilgrim was used to describer settlers much later in history

WHY WERE THESE FACTS DISTORTED

Different settlements

Different beliefs

Bits and pieces came together from different places

Easy to generalize

Some facts are hard to accept

Legend sounds better than the truth

5. HAM, CORN AND SWEET POTATOES WERE ON THE THANKSGIVING MENU

5. HAM, CORN AND SWEET POTATOES WERE ON THE THANKSGIVING MENU

No pigs in America = No ham

Potatoes were not common

Corn was put away for winter

5. HAM, CORN AND SWEET POTATOES WERE ON THE THANKSGIVING MENU

BELL RINGER

5 min, ½ sheet, complete sentences

How do you feel about the settlers eating crane, swan, eagle, seal? Why?

WHAT DO YOU FIND MORE ACCEPTABLE TO EAT

Some of these foods are hard to accept which is why the facts were changed.

WHAT HAS BEEN DISTORTED IN MODERN DAY LIFE?

9/11

Santa Claus

Native Americans

WHO IS DOING THE DISTORTING?

6. THE SETTLERS FOUND CORN

6. THE SETTLERS FOUND CORN

Corn was stolen from a grave

Natives left food on the graves of their dead

Settlers dug up the body of a child, took the items inside and reburied the body

 “Today is a time of celebrating for you… but it is not a time of celebrating for me. It is with heavy heart that I look back upon what happened to my people… The pilgrims had hardly explored the shores of Cape Cod… before they had robbed the graves of my ancestors, and stolen their corn, wheat, and beans… Massasoit, the great leader of the Wampanoag, knew these facts; yet he and his people welcomed and befriended the settlers…, little knowing that… before 50 years were to pass, the Wampanoags… and other Indians living near the settlers would be killed by their guns or dead from diseases that we caught from them…

7. THE NATIVES WERE INVITED TO THE THANKSGIVING FEAST

7. THE NATIVES WERE INVITED TO THE THANKSGIVING FEAST

It happened by accident

Natives heard a gunshot and marched to the settlers’ camp

Natives found the settlers feasting so they went back, brought food, and invited themselves in since they had food.

8. THANKSGIVING IS CONSIDERED A HAPPY TIME

8. THANKSGIVING IS CONSIDERED A HAPPY TIME

Depends who you ask

The Thanksgiving feast was followed by 50 years of brutal warfare between Natives and the settlers. Guns, European style of warfare, and disease decimated the Native tribe.

WHY WEREN’T YOU THOUGHT THE TRUTH BEFORE?