Speech by Moonanum James, Co-Leader of United American Indians of New England, at 30th National Day of Mourning, Cole's Hill, Plymouth, Mass, Nov 25, 1999
Good afternoon Sisters and Brothers:
Today, as we have done each year since 1970, United American Indians of New England and our supporters have gathered here to protest and to speak out against the oppression of all people. It is hard to believe that today marks the 30th time that we have gathered on this hill, in all kinds of weather, to speak the truth. I wish I could say that we have always been welcomed here because we speak the truth. Over the years, those who do not want the truth to come out have tried many times and in many ways to silence us. Each and every year we have returned stronger and more determined than the year before.
Day of Mourning came into being in 1970 as a direct result of the state's need to keep the Pilgrim mythology alive. Wamsutta Frank James had been invited to address a gathering of dignitaries commemorating the 350th anniversary of the landing of the Pilgrims. Because his remarks did not fit the mythology, he was told that he could not give the speech he had written. The state was more than willing to write a speech for him that would keep the lies alive. He refused to have words placed in his mouth. Instead of speaking to a group of dignitaries in the warmth of a banquet hall, he and a small group of Native Americans came here to Plymouth, stood in the cold, and declared US Thanksgiving Day a National Day of Mourning.
What was it about the speech that got those officials so upset?
Here is the truth: The reason they talk about the pilgrims and not an earlier English-speaking colony, Jamestown, is that in Jamestown the circumstances were way too ugly to hold up as an effective national myth. For example, the white settlers in Jamestown turned to cannibalism to survive. Not a very nice story to tell the kids in school. The pilgrims did not find an empty land any more than Columbus "discovered" anything. Every inch of this land is Indian land. The pilgrims (who did not even call themselves pilgrims) did not come here seeking religious freedom; they already had that in Holland. They came here as part of a commercial venture. They introduced sexism, racism, anti-lesbian and gay bigotry, jails, and the class system to these shores. They were no better than any other group of Europeans when it came to their treatment of the Indigenous peoples here. And no, they did not even land at that sacred shrine down the hill called Plymouth Rock, a monument to racism and oppression which we are proud to say we buried, not once, but twice in 1970 and again in 1995.
Upon first arriving, the pilgrims opened my ancestors' graves and took our corn and bean supplies. Later, from the very harbor we can see from here, the English sold my ancestors as slaves for 220 shillings each.
The first official "Day of Thanksgiving" was proclaimed in 1637 by Governor Winthrop. He did so to celebrate the safe return of men from Massachusetts who had gone to Mystic, Connecticut to participate in the massacre of over 700 Pequot women, children, and men.
About the only true thing in the whole mythology is that these pitiful European strangers would not have survived their first several years in "New England" were it not for the aid of Wampanoag people. What Native people got in return for this help was genocide, theft of our lands, and never-ending repression.
Some would ask what we have gained by observing National Day of Mourning since 1970. The very fact that you are here is perhaps our greatest gain. We have brought together people from the four directions who have seen through the Pilgrim myth and want to join the struggle to destroy that mythology.
A few words of caution however. The powers that be do not like to see us all come together in strength and unity. It scares them. We are like a hand. If the fingers remain apart they can easily be broken. But, if they join together to form a fist, they cannot be broken. We have truly made a fist that cannot be broken.
Those of us who were here in 1997 will not forget what happened to our peaceful march. It will be forever in our minds. After almost a year of struggle we were able to reach an agreement with the Town of Plymouth. Part of that agreement called for the town to erect two plaques, one here on Cole's Hill to honor Day of Mourning and another in Town Square to honor Metacom or King Philip. I am proud to announce that the plaques will be dedicated today as part of the 30th National Day of Mourning. Today, you will see only temporary markers. But we will dedicate the earth where the stones and the bronze plaques will shortly be placed. I am happy to say that finally, there will be two rocks in Plymouth that speak the truth.
A few have asked if the placement of these plaques will end the need for us to continue to come to Plymouth and speak the truth. The answer to that question is no! As we have stated many times before, we will continue to come to Plymouth and protest until we can act as sovereign nations on our own land without interference from the Bureau of Indian Affairs. As we speak today, many Native nations here in the Northeast, such as the Mashpee Wampanoag and the Nipmuc, are not even recognized as such by the federal government. Who is this government of pilgrims to decide who is Indian or not? We will continue to protest as long as sports teams and schools continue to use racist team names and mascots. We will continue to gather on this hill until the US military and corporations stop polluting our mother, the earth. We will continue to stand here and protest until racism is made illegal. We will not stop until the oppression of our Two-Spirited sisters and brothers is a thing of the past. When homeless people have homes. When immigrants from Central and South American are no longer hunted down. When no person goes hungry or is left to die because they have no access to quality health care. We will never stop coming to this place until police brutality no longer exists in communities of color. We will stop protesting when our brothers Leonard Peltier and Mumia Abu Jamal and all political prisoners are free.
Until then, the struggle will continue.
Today, we will correct some history and do so in a country that continues to glorify butchers such as Christopher Columbus, in a country that glorifies slave-owning presidents such as Washington and Jefferson and even carves their faces into the sacred Black Hills of the Lakota.
But we have a lot more to talk about than the pilgrims or what happened in the 1600s. We will also be speaking today, as we have every year since 1970, about conditions in Indian country today. We are here to unite people and to speak the truth. On our program will be only Native speakers. This is one day when we speak for ourselves, without non-Native people, so-called "experts," intervening to interpret and speak for us. We are more than capable of speaking for ourselves.
Today, for a few hours, we are gathered here in liberated territory. Our very presence frees this land from the lies of the history books, the profiteers, and the mythmakers. We will remember and honor all of our ancestors in struggle who went before us. We will speak truth to power. We will remember in particular all of our sisters and brothers, including Leonard Peltier and Mumia Abu Jamal, who are caged in the iron houses.
In 1970 very few people would have given any thought to the fact that the indigenous people of this hemisphere do not look upon the arrival of the European invaders as a reason to give thanks. Today, many thousands stand with us in spirit as we commemorate our 30th annual National Day of Mourning. In The Spirit of Metacom: We are not vanishing. We are not conquered. We are as strong as ever.