Juneteenth is a federal holiday due to the freedom of slaves in Texas. The holiday will become a federal holiday in 2021.

Schoolchildren act in a
Schoolchildren acting in a "First Thanksgiving" skit in 1963.Denver Post/Contributor/Getty Images
  • The Pilgrims and Native Americans united for the first Thanksgiving, according to mythology.

  • The settlers and Native people were at war after the peace ended.

  • The holiday is a reminder of oppression faced by Native Americans.

  • Thanksgiving in the United States is a time for family and food.

    The tradition goes back to the Pilgrims, who helped establish the colony in 1620.

    The Native Americans taught the colonists how to survive in the new world. Everyone celebrated with a feast in 1621.

    The first American Thanksgiving would be celebrated in the year 222. The peace that was celebrated on that day was tenuous.

    Some people are reconsidering how they celebrate the holiday because of the dark story behind it.

    A group of school kids gather at the statue of Massasoit,
    Schoolchildren at the statue of Massasoit, "Great Sachem of the Wampanoags," on the hill overlooking Plymouth Rock and the harbor.Tom Herde/The Boston Globe via Getty Images

    The Plymouth Thanksgiving of 1621 wasn't the first

    According to National Geographic, the first settlers in Berkeley Hundred celebrated Thanksgiving in 1619.

    In 1565, Spanish settlers and members of the Seloy tribe broke bread in Florida with salted pork, garbanzo beans, and a Mass.

    Thanksgiving used to be more of a religious event in the past than it is today. The first actual Thanksgiving is most likely to be considered by the Pilgrims as their sober 1623 day of prayer.

    The true origin of Thanksgiving can be found in 1637, when the governor of the Massachusetts Bay Colony declared a day to celebrate soldiers who had just slaughtered hundreds of Pequot men, women, and children.

    Thanks to Abraham Lincoln, the popular telling of the initial harvest festival is still going strong.

    Our collective memory of what happened between the Wampanoag and the English was almost wiped out by the holiday.

    "The First Thanksgiving at Plymouth," painted by Jennie Augusta Brownscombe.Barney Burstein/Corbis/VCG via Getty Images

    The Thanksgiving 'peace' didn't last

    The Wampanoag paramount chief, Massasoit, allied with the English settlers after they arrived in the area. The alliance got strained over time.

    The book " Historic Contact: Indian People and Colonists in Today's Northeastern United States" states that authorities had control over "most aspects of Wampanoag life" as more English settlers moved to the area.

    By 1620, the New England Indigenous population was estimated to have been reduced by 90 percent due to disease. The Wampanoag died from an unknown disease brought by early Europeans.

    A drawing by H.L. Stevens of Massasoit meeting with Gov. John Carver in front of other North American men.Drawn by H.L. Stevens/engraved by Augustus Robin/Corbis/Getty Images

    The relationship between the English and Metacomet's father had deteriorated by the time Metacomet took over. King Philip's War began when his men were executed for the murder of the Punkapoag interpreter.

    The New England of Colonies declared war in 1695. The war was a terrible experience.

    The death toll could have been as high as 30% of the English population and 50% of the Native Americans in New England according to a professor.

    The colonial assault on the Narragansett fort in the Great Swamp Fight in December 1675.Universal History Archive/Universal Images Group via Getty Images

    Metacomet's head was impaled on a spike for 25 years after he was beheaded and dismembered.

    In New England, New York, and Virginia, there was a series of brutal conflicts between Native Americans and settlers.

    The holiday's dark past has some people rethinking Thanksgiving

    Some people say that the meaning and celebration of Thanksgiving needs to be reexamined because of the focus on racial justice.

    The New York Times reported in 2020 that teachers, professors, and Native Americans were rethinking the holiday that has marginalized the US's violence and cruel treatment of Native Americans.

    Reflections on Thanksgiving have been going on for a long time. The United American Indians of New England have been mourning on Thanksgiving for a long time.

    The Washington Post reported that Frank James said the Wampanoag's welcoming of the English settlers was their biggest mistake.

    Native Americans gather in Massachusetts to remember the millions of Indigenous people who were killed by European colonizers. Prayers and speeches precede the marchers through the historic district.

    The plaque at Cole's Hill states that participants in National Day of Mourning honor Native ancestors and the struggles of Native peoples to survive today. It is a day of remembrance and spiritual connection as well as a protest of the racism and oppression which Native Americans still experience.

    You can read the original article.