American History Tellers: The Mayflower | The Thanksgiving Myth | Ep. 5 (Dec 3, 2025)

Episode Overview

In this fifth and final episode of the American History Tellers’ Mayflower series, host Lindsey Graham interviews historian David Silverman, author of This Land Is Their Land: The Wampanoag Indians, Plymouth Colony, and the Troubled History of Thanksgiving. The central theme is a critical re-examination of the "First Thanksgiving," placing the Native Wampanoag perspective at the heart of the story and interrogating the myths, misconceptions, and consequences of colonial history. The episode explores the deeper history of Wampanoag encounters with Europeans, the devastation wrought by disease, the fragile alliances formed, and the lasting impact of these events on both Native and American identities.

Key Discussion Points and Insights

Why Tell the Wampanoag Story?

[03:04]

• David Silverman sought to center the Wampanoag experience, motivated by conversations with modern Wampanoag people who found the Thanksgiving narrative deeply alienating—especially for children taught they "no longer exist."

• The "mythical Thanksgiving" glosses over colonization, dispossession, and long-term struggle, turning a history of survival into "a cameo" in American education.

  "I wanted to write a book that put Wampanoag people at the center of this history and that connected that history to their long-term struggles with colonialism up to this very day." — David Silverman [03:48]

The History Before the Mayflower: European Contact

[04:57]

• Contact between the Wampanoags and Europeans began almost a century before the Pilgrims landed. Encounters were frequent and driven by trade, with Wampanoags eager for metal goods and Europeans seeking furs, food, and sometimes captives.

• Kidnapping of Native people for slavery or use as interpreters was common.

  "In almost every early colonial founding, what we imagine is a first contact is nothing of the sort." — David Silverman [05:30]

The Story of Squanto

[05:27 – 11:19]

• Squanto (Tisquantum) was taken in 1614 by an English captain, sold into slavery in Spain, and eventually made his way to London and back to New England in 1619. On his return, he discovered his home village destroyed by epidemic.

• The devastation: Epidemics between 1616–1619 killed entire communities, with skulls and skeletons "littered all over the landscape," signaling panic and collapse.

  "When he finally lands at Patuxet... the place was like an inverted graveyard. The bones, the skeletons, the skulls of the dead were littered all over the landscape." — David Silverman [13:10]

What Did Native People Learn in Europe?

[09:30]

• Those who traveled learned of Europe's scale, inequality, and technology. Reports marveled at how the poor didn't revolt and recognized Europeans' lust for gold and advanced weapons.

  "They comment that such inequality would be totally inexcusable in their own society. And they don't understand how the poor... don't set fire to the elite's homes and slit their throats." — David Silverman [10:16]

The Pilgrims’ Landing & Wampanoag Strategy

[16:30]

• When the Mayflower arrived, the Wampanoags were wary and divided on how to handle the newcomers. Some favored extermination; others, led by Massasoit (Usamequin), saw potential for alliance against powerful rivals (the Narragansetts).

• Initial encounters were fraught: The Pilgrims ransacked Native summer camps and disturbed burials, deepening mistrust.

• The decision to ally was tactical; it was not universally accepted among the Wampanoags.

  "Should we try to ally with these people against the Narragansett or should we push them back into the sea and accept subjugation? Ultimately, allying... wins out." — David Silverman [19:35]

Native Diplomacy and Leadership

[20:38]

• Leadership involved consensus-seeking among sachems (chiefs), not unilateral rule. Shamans (powwows) were consulted, and dissension was common.
• Massasoit was a "first among equals,” constantly aware of potential rifts.

The Role of Translators – Squanto & Winslow

[22:19]

• Squanto was invaluable as an interpreter but was seen as self-serving and manipulative, spreading rumors for personal gain.

  "Squanto has been spreading some whoppers of lies to try to terrify the Wampanoag people... claiming that only he can handle the emergency." — David Silverman [23:11]

• The English chose Edward Winslow as their emissary. Despite deep cultural fears, Winslow built rapport with Massasoit by tending to him during illness, providing key diplomatic glue.

  "He demonstrates an enormous amount of goodwill. He shows that he’s a friend and can even be considered something of a relative." — David Silverman [26:18]

The "First Thanksgiving" – What Really Happened

[27:09 – 29:54]

• The 1621 harvest feast was not an invitation from the Pilgrims to the Wampanoags, but a result of gunfire from the Pilgrims’ celebrations prompting the Wampanoags to respond to a potential threat.

• 90 armed Wampanoags arrived—nearly twice the number of surviving colonists—and, instead of conflict, a joint feast ensued.

• The event was so unremarkable to both sides that it was barely recorded and quickly forgotten, later mythologized as a moment of harmony.

  "The Thanksgiving myth is not true. It's a sanitized, whitewashed history that's designed, quite frankly, to make white people feel better about colonization." — David Silverman [42:11]

Fragile Peace and Eventual Conflict

[29:54]

• Peace endured for decades due to the Wampanoags' strategic needs, the small size of Plymouth, and continuity in leadership (Massasoit, William Bradford).

• As English needs for Native aid waned, relationships soured, marked by missionary efforts undermining Native authority, exploitative land transactions, and livestock disruption.

• Tensions culminated in King Philip’s War (1675), a devastating conflict marked by atrocities on both sides and widespread Native enslavement.

  "Eventually the English do start expanding at Wampanoag expense." — David Silverman [31:28]

King Philip's War and the Shattered Alliance

[34:07 – 41:36]

• Leadership passed to Massasoit’s son, Metacom (King Philip). The English used missionary conversion to undermine Native authority and exploited land deals to seize territory.

• The trial and execution of Wampanoags for the murder of an interpreter sparked war; fighting involved “wars of terror,” targeting civilians on both sides, with the English enslaving captured Natives.

• The war ended with Metacom killed, his body desecrated, and the English celebrating with a “day of Thanksgiving”—a dark irony.

  "They decapitate him. They sever his four limbs ... and then Plymouth Colony and Massachusetts Colony hold a day of Thanksgiving to celebrate God’s blessing that allowed them to achieve a victory over their savage enemies." — David Silverman [41:14]

Rethinking Thanksgiving

[41:57]

• Silverman argues not for cancellation or replacement of Thanksgiving, but for honest engagement with its origins and legacy.

  "Native people are our countrymen and countrywomen these days, and if their history is going to be invoked during a national holiday, they have the right to see that history portrayed accurately." — David Silverman [42:56]

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On Thanksgiving Myth:

  “The mythical Thanksgiving of Native people welcoming the English... makes light of the Wampanoag people’s own colonization, their dispossession.” — David Silverman [03:41]

• On First Contact:

  "What we imagine is a first contact is nothing of the sort.” — David Silverman [05:30]

• On Epidemic Aftermath:

  “The bones, the skeletons, the skulls of the dead were littered all over the landscape.” — David Silverman [13:10]

• On Thanksgiving Narrative:

  “That is not what happened... None of the parties ever mention it again. It doesn't seem to have been very important to either one of them, and the English barely write about it.” — David Silverman [28:20]

• On the Thanksgiving Myth:

  “It's a sanitized, whitewashed history that's designed, quite frankly, to make white people feel better about colonization.” — David Silverman [42:11]

Timestamps for Key Segments

• Opening/Contextual Introduction: [00:00 – 03:00]
• Silverman on Writing Wampanoag History: [03:04 – 04:57]
• European-Native Contact & Squanto's Story: [04:57 – 11:41]
• What Natives Learned in Europe: [09:19 – 11:41]
• Squanto Returns to a Devastated Homeland: [11:41 – 14:54]
• Wampanoag Initial Response to Pilgrims: [16:30 – 20:23]
• Wampanoag Political Structure & Massasoit: [20:23 – 22:19]
• Squanto as Translator (Controversies): [22:19 – 24:29]
• Edward Winslow as English Diplomat: [24:29 – 27:09]
• Reconstructing the "First Thanksgiving": [27:09 – 29:54]
• How Peace Lasted—Why It Ended: [29:54 – 34:07]
• Collapse of the Alliance/King Philip’s War: [34:07 – 41:36]
• What to Do with Thanksgiving Now: [41:57 – 43:11]

Summary & Reflection

This episode dispels the comfortable myth of the “first Thanksgiving,” replacing it with a layered narrative of opportunism, loss, misunderstanding, and violence. David Silverman’s insights reinforce the need for a more truthful engagement with history—one that acknowledges the costs of colonization and the perspectives of those most affected. It is an invitation to remember that behind the national holiday lies a story both more complex and more human than the myth suggests.