My daughter's class and I went to the Wampanoag Homesite at Plimoth Plantation last week. There are no character actors here, as there are at the 1627 English Village. The people here are actual Wampanoags, most of whom live right here on Cape Cod. They truly are carrying on their ancestors' traditions. When one of the children asked if the Wampanoags were "friends with the Pilgrims," we were told by one of the tribe: "We helped the settlers to survive. Did we befriend the them? No. We tolerated them." That comment pretty much made us all speechless. For in fact, here we were, standing on the very same soil where the Native Americans lived, for over 12,000 years! Land that is now partitioned, given a town name, a county name, a state name; land which is industrialized and mostly privately owned, and for which taxes are paid. Attributes the Wampanoags didn't develop. Then it dawned on me... who wrote all of our school history books? Wouldn't it do justice to the indigenous people if we were also given history books in school, written by the people who actually lived here and continue to do so?I strongly suggest a visit to Plimoth Plantation if you are ever in the area. If not just for the history, it really puts life here in perspective.
