The two chiefs were killed, and the natives cut contact with their new neighbors. That November, the ship landed on the shores of Cape Cod, in present-day Massachusetts. The exterior of a wigwam or wetu as recreated by modern Wampanoag natives (Image: swampyank/ CC BY-SA 3.0 ). Norimitsu Odachi: Who Could Have Possibly Wielded This Enormous 15th Century Japanese Sword? The Mayflower was a ship that transported English Puritans from Plymouth, England to the New World in 1620. To the English, divine intervention had paved the way. As Gov. Who helped pilgrims survive the winter? The English explorer Thomas Dermer described the once-populous villages along the banks of the bay as being utterly void of people. Earlier European visitors had described pleasant shorelines and prosperous indigenous communities. Squanto stayed in Plymouth with the Pilgrims for the entire spring and summer, teaching them how to plant and hunt for food. But none disappeared without record, and their stories circulated in books printed in London. It was a harsh winter for the first Pilgrims, with many dying as a result of cold and hunger. They hosted a group of about 90 Wampanoags, their Algonquian-speaking neighbors. There were 102 passengers on board, including Protestant Separatists who were hoping to establish a . A colonial perspective undermines not only the tragedies Native Americans endured, but also their contributions to history, David Stirrup, an American literature and indigenous studies professor at the University of Kent, argues. As their burial ground, the Mayflower served as a traditional burial ground. Peters agrees 2020 could mark a turning point: I think people absolutely are far more open to the damage that inaccuracies in our story, in our history, can cause. The Wampanoags didnt wear them. By then, only a few of the original Wampanoag tribes still existed. Many of them died, probably of pneumonia and scurvy. And a brief effort to settle the coast of Maine in 1607 and 1608 failed because of an unusually bitter winter. Darius Coombs, a Mashpee Wampanoag cultural outreach coordinator, said theres such misinterpretation about what Thanksgiving means to American Indians. Thanksgivings hidden past: Plymouth in 1621 wasnt close to being the first celebration. Pilgrims desire for freedom of worship prompted them to flee from England to Holland. To see what this years featured articles will be, click here. The Pilgrims killed Metacom and beheaded and quartered his body. After attempts to increase his own power by turning the Pilgrims against Massasoit, Squanto died in 1622, while serving as Bradfords guide on an expedition around Cape Cod. Members of Native American tribes from around New England are gathering in the seaside town where the Pilgrims settled not to give thanks, but to mourn .