Squanto, Pocahantas, Sacagawea and The Navajo Code Talkers- Indian Givers

Happy that I recorded "This Is America, Charlie Brown".  It is a animated show about the first Thanksgiving and they must show it every year but this was the first year that I noticed it.   It made me do some research...there is a great article just here.   You should always be ready to learn from anything even it if it is something that is intended for children!

Squanto- All American children should know his name as the Native American who helped the Pilgrims from the Mayflower.  He was able to act as an interpreter for them as he spoke perfect English.  Why was this so? He had been kidnapped and taken to Spain. While there, the monks helped him to escape to England, and he spent two years in London.  Upon his return to America, he found that his entire tribe had died from disease.  Why did Squanto help the Pilgrims?  I would like to think that he took pity on them, he saw that they were totally out of their depth and that he helped them out of kindness.

Pocahantas-  The Native American woman who helped the settlers at Jamestown, Virginia, she married the Englishman John Rolfe and sailed to England with him and died there at the age of 21.




  Statue of Pocahantas at Gravesend, Kent in England (Believed to be near her grave.)



Sacagawea- The Native American woman who assisted the Lewis and Clark Expedition. She traveled thousands of miles with them from North Dakota to the Pacific Ocean, much of it while she was pregnant with her first child.  (A good book for you- "Undaunted Courage" by Stephen Ambrose.)

America has a beautiful one dollar coin with the likeness of Sacagawea with her infant on her back. It is so beautiful that hardly anyone uses it!




The Navajo Code Talkers- You might have seen a mention of the Navajo Code Talkers this week, some of the surviving veterans from World War II  met with Trump this week and unfortunately, much of their story was lost in the uncouth remarks from President Trump.  This was a shame as their story needs to be better known. I hope that it made more people look up their story. Their unbreakable code from their language enabled American military victories in the South Pacific.  You may read more just here.  (They were forced to keep their story secret until the 1960's!)
If you notice from the photo on that link, Trump met with these Native Americans in the Oval Office of the White House and there is a portrait of Andrew Jackson behind them.  Insensitive to say the least...Andrew Jackson was the President of the United States during the time when tribes were forced to leave their lands and to stay on reservations.   (Anybody thinking at the White House? Anybody?)

Years ago, I read a book by Jack Weatherford..."Indian Givers: How Native Americans Transformed The World".  It is a fascinating read!  Of course, he uses the expression "Indian Giver" in the true sense of the word!
Another one for you, "Bury My Heart At Wounded Knee" by Dee Brown, is a book about Native Americans in the American West in the 19th century.

Both of these books are very well written and very much worth reading.




"Indian giver" is an American pejorative expression, used to describe a person who gives a "gift" and later wants it back, or who expects something of equivalent worth in return for the item.   

When the settlers first came to America, I can see why they called it "FALL".  The leaves from all those trees must have been spectacular and a true sight to see.