Thanksgiving means many things to many people. To the average American, it is a time of giving thanks for what we have. A time of watching football, getting ready to spend obscene amounts of money on Black Friday “sales”: camping out for a new television set that we didn’t need. To Native Americans it is often about being insulted by pop-American history, a time of betrayal and a reminder of the centuries-long genocide that took place after indigenous North Americans saved the collective ass of colonists. For others it is simply about a day or two off of work, school, and Star Wars or Godfather marathons on cable. But for the historical settlers at Jamestown, from 1609 to 1610, when the holiday was already in practice, this was a time of murder and cannibalism.
The idea that there were man-eating pilgrims is nothing new, but American History courses in U.S. schools typically make no mention of it. Still, many historical accounts mention settlers (though her perhaps not pilgrims proper), turning to cannibalism for survival, particularly as the winter months approached.
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