New England’s Original Inhabitants: Thanksgiving Myths & What They Don’t Tell Us

Presented by John B. Brown III & Dr. Paul Robinson

The 1621 harvest feast at Plimoth, often called the “first Thanksgiving,” has an iconic place in the American imagination and historical narrative. Explore with Paul Robinson how the Pilgrim’s first successful harvest was made possible by the generosity of indigenous people, and how English colonists quickly betrayed the social obligations that accompanied those gifts.  He will also talk about the latest research concerning the conflicts in the decades following, and about recent reconciliation efforts initiated in New England and elsewhere.

John B. Brown, III is the Narragansett Tribal Historic Preservation Officer for the Narragansett Indian Tribe. He is also the Tribal Medicine Man.

Dr. Robinson served for 30 years as State Archaeologist for Rhode Island at the RI Historical Preservation & Heritage Commission, and he taught part-time for nearly two decades in the Anthropology Department at Rhode Island College.