Скачать или смотреть Squanto, the Last Patuxet, and the Importance of Thanksgiving

In this short video, I argue that the lasting impact of Squanto’s peaceful collaboration was not only more complicated than previously assumed, but the lasting impact of his work has been embedded into the American body politic, even into today’s American culture. I consulted three articles: Sarah Rivett’s discussion of the symbolic and spiritual significance of the Algonquin language, Neal Salisbury’s review of Squanto’s journey into slavery and return to the American colonies, and David Silverman’s overview of John Eliot’s efforts in bringing Christianity to the Wampanoag peoples of Narragansett Bay. Even though the celebration of Thanksgiving is far too often shrouded in the symbolic utterances of turkeys and Indians, sometimes the past brings sharper focus to the intimate gatherings that bring our families together.

Sources
Sarah Rivett, “Learning to Write Algonquin Letters: The Indigenous Place of Language Philosophy in the Seventeenth-Century Atlantic World,” The William and Mary Quarterly 71, no. 4 (October 2014): 549-588.
Neal Salisbury, “Treacherous Waters: Tisquantum, the Red Atlantic, and the Beginnings of the Plymouth Colony,” Early American Literature 56, no. 1 (2021): 51-73.
David J. Silverman, “Indians, Missionaries, and Religious Translation: Creating Wampanoag Christianity in Seventeenth-Century Martha’s Vineyard,” The William and Mary Quarterly 62, no. 2 (April 2005): 141-174.