"History tells us that in 1620 a group of Pilgrims arrived in Plymouth, Mass. An unfamiliarity with the region, bitter cold weather conditions, inadequate clothing and little available food proved fatal to more than half the 100 or so colonists.

Witnessing the death of so many men and women, the Wampanoag Indian tribe began supplying the remaining Pilgrims with corn seed and teaching them how to hunt wild game. In the fall, the Pilgrims harvested a bountiful food crop.

In an act of appreciation to the American Indians, Gov. William Bradford declared a celebration of thanks, which we now know as the first Thanksgiving and the genuine act of kindness demonstrated by the Americans at that time helped the colonists to survive in the new world. But, with terrible consequences to the American Indians.

As the number of colonists grew, the struggle of the American Indians began. For hundreds of years, forces greater than the American Indians have been working against them. The vast lands that were once home have been reduced to scattered reservations, which many say are worse than inner-city ghettos and comparable to Third World poverty.

They have been reduced to depending on others like the other original colonists 387 years ago."

Get the Story:
Richard Brewster: The reality of Thanksgiving (The Zanesville Times-Recorder 11/18)