Page 32 - ARUBA TODAY

A32 FEATURE
Monday 17 June 2019
400 years later, natives who helped Pilgrims gain a voice

By WILLIAM J. KOLE memoration has a global
Associated Press profile, said she hopes it
PLYMOUTH, Mass. (AP) — all helps make amends for
The seaside town where centuries of "mishandled
the Pilgrims came ashore and misrepresented" his-
in 1620 is gearing up for a tory.
400th birthday bash, and "The Pilgrims were the first
everyone's invited — es- immigrants," said Plymouth
pecially the native people 400's Pecoraro. "We're in
whose ancestors wound up a place in this country
losing their land and their where we need solidarity.
lives. We need to come togeth-
Plymouth, Massachusetts, er. We need to be talking
whose European settlers about immigration and in-
have come to symbolize digenous people."
American liberty and grit, Plymouth, nicknamed
marks its quadricentennial "America's Hometown," is
in 2020 with a trans-Atlantic sure to draw a crush of 2020
commemoration that will presidential candidates
put Native Americans' un- who will use its monuments
varnished side of the story as campaign backdrops.
on full display. With President Donald
"It's history. It happened," In this Thursday, Nov. 15, 2018, photo, Mashpee Wampanoag Kerri Helme, of Fairhaven, Mass., Trump, Queen Elizabeth II
said Michele Pecoraro, ex- uses plant fiber to weave a basket while sitting next to a fire at the Wampanoag Homesite at Pli- and other heads of state
ecutive director of Plym- moth Plantation, in Plymouth, Mass. on the invitation list, state
outh 400, Inc., a nonprofit Associated Press and federal authorities al-
group organizing yearlong ready are busy mapping
events. "We're not going to remembrance that indige- festival in September, and "We, the Wampanoag, out security plans.
solve every problem and nous New Englanders have a week of ceremonies welcomed you, the white Wampanoag tribal leader
make everyone feel better. observed on every Thanks- around Thanksgiving. man, with open arms, little and activist Linda Coombs,
We just need to move the giving Day since. The Mayflower II , a replica knowing that it was the be- who's helped plan the
needle." This time, there's pressure to of the ship that carried the ginning of the end." commemoration, is skepti-
Organizers are understand- get it right, said Jim Peters, settlers from Europe to the "The Pilgrims had hardly cal that anything mean-
ably cautious this time a Wampanoag who directs New World four centuries explored the shores of ingful will change for her
around. When the 350th the Massachusetts Com- ago, will sail to Boston in the Cape Cod for four days people.
anniversary of the Pilgrim mission on Indian Affairs. spring. That autumn, it will before they had robbed "It's a world stage, so we'll
landing was observed in "We'll be able to tell some head to Provincetown, at the graves of my ancestors have more visibility than
1970, state officials disinvit- stories of what happened the outermost tip of Cape and stolen their corn and we've had in the past,"
ed a leader of the Wampa- to us — to delve back into Cod, where the Pilgrims beans," the speech reads. she said. "We'll see if it's
noag Nation — the Native our history and talk about initially landed before con- Dusty Rhodes, who chairs a enough. It'll be a measur-
American tribe that helped it," Peters said. "Hopefully it tinuing on to Plymouth. separate state commission ing stick for all that has to
the haggard newcom- will give us a chance to re- Events also are planned in working to ensure the com- come afterward."q
ers survive their first bitter educate people and have Britain and in the Nether-
winter — after learning his a national discussion about lands, where the Pilgrims
speech would bemoan the how we should be treating spent 11 years in exile be-
disease, racism and op- each other." fore making their perilous
pression that followed the The commemoration sea crossing.
Pilgrims. known as Plymouth 400 will But the emphasis is on high-
That triggered angry dem- feature events throughout lighting the often-ignored
onstrations from tribal mem- 2020, including a maritime history of the Wampanoag
bers who staged a National salute in Plymouth Harbor and poking holes in the
Day of Mourning, a somber in June, an embarkation false narrative that Pilgrims
and Indians coexisted in
peace and harmony.
An interactive exhibit now
making the rounds de-
scribes how the Wampano-
ag were cheated and en-
slaved, and in August 2020
tribal members will guide
visitors on a walk through
Plymouth to point out and
consecrate spots where
their ancestors once trod.
There are also plans to in-
vite relatives of the late
Wampanoag elder Wam-
In this Sunday, Nov. 18, 2018, photo, visitors to Plimoth Planta- sutta "Frank" James to In this Thursday, Nov. 15, 2018, photo, Mashpee Wampanoag
tion, a living history museum village where visitors can get a publicly read that speech Phillip Wynne, pours water to control fire and temperatures while
glimpse into the world of the 1627 Pilgrim village, walk among he wasn't allowed to de- making a mishoon, a type of boat, from a tree at the Wampa-
buildings, in Plymouth, Mass. liver in 1970 — an address noag Homesite at Plimoth Plantation, in Plymouth, Mass.
Associated Press that includes this passage: Associated Press