The Wampanoags were not the savages, but the people of the dawn were driven near-extinction by a bacterial infection carried the Pilgrims, which left them defenseless to raids by the Micmacs and Pequots.
Despite these calamities the Wampanoags living near the Plymouth supposedly celebrated a particularly good harvest with the Pilgrims in the autumn of1621.
The event was poorly documented by the colonists, but the legend has endured in the minds of Americans as a cherished moment of peace between the Old World and the New World.
Within forty years the Wampanoags would once more be tested to the limit by the King Philip War.
Only 400 survived the fighting.
The Wampanoags sought refuge on Martha’s Vinyard.
Today the the tribe numbers almost 2000.
I know one.
Big Ralph.
6-8.
A big man.
Wampanoag and proud of it.
Happy to be alive.
And me too, because I’m half-Irish.
And we were almost wiped out by the British.
Three times.
Happy Turkey Day.
One and all.
