The Peace Pipe Eludes Modern ‘Pilgrims’ and Indians

One group dons Pilgrim clothes and marches through the streets to honor the 51 survivors of a brutal first year on North American soil.

Another group marks the same occasion with a day of mourning, including speeches and a procession punctuated by sorrowful drumbeats to protest what it views as “the Pilgrim invasion.”

While much of this country was busy Thursday munching on turkey, long-simmering tensions over these divergent interpretations of American history boiled over into a confrontation with police and the arrests of more than two dozen members of the United American Indians of New England’s “day of mourning” march. During an arraignment Tuesday, those facing a variety of disorderly conduct and unlawful assembly charges pleaded not guilty.

Roland F. “Moonanum” James, a member of the Aquinnah Wampanoag tribe and a co-leader of UAINE, called it a “brutal attack by police.” He said the 300 or so marchers in his group turned a corner to find “a sea of blue uniforms” ordering them to disperse. Soon Plymouth police, some on horseback, were using pepper spray to break up the demonstration. Protesters who were arrested were led off to jail in handcuffs.

“I found nothing inappropriate that the officers did,” said Plymouth Police Chief Robert Pomeroy, who contended that protesters had “a secret plan” to “take back the streets.” Pomeroy suggested the marchers goaded police into a confrontation.

The clash was only the latest example of conflict over how history should be observed in the community that bills itself as “America’s home town.”

About 75 years ago, a group of Mayflower descendants began staging an annual “Pilgrims’ progress” march through Plymouth each Thanksgiving Day. The parade was based on a 1627 account of the route the Pilgrims took and what they wore as they walked to church.

“To us, this is history, this is what happened here,” said Plymouth Historical Alliance President Annette Talbot, a Mayflower descendant who dresses up and joins the annual procession.

Then, 28 years ago, Native Americans countered with their own “day of mourning” march. James, whose father was one of the organizers of the first event, said the gathering was intended to dispel “mythology” about relations between the Pilgrims and Native Americans.

“When we look at Thanksgiving, and the idea of the Pilgrims being nice, pious people who brought freedom to our shores, well, we were free before they got here,” said James, a former musician in the U.S. Navy band.

Most years, the dueling commemorations proceeded uneventfully, and often several hours apart. But two years ago, the UAINE group dumped sand and seaweed on Plymouth Rock, a chunk of granite alongside the harbor here that is widely viewed as a Pilgrim shrine.

In 1996, Pilgrim’s progress marchers charged that the Native American faction blocked their parade. Along with the skirmish with police, last week’s conflict also targeted Plymouth Rock, where a balloon filled with red paint was hurled sometime after dark.

While state environmental workers scrubbed the rock, James said his group was not involved. “Whoever did that acted totally independently,” he said. “Although I am not saying that plastering the rock with red paint is a bad thing.”

But Mayflower descendant Stuart Hall, a member of the Plymouth Historical Alliance, was unconvinced. “They claim they didn’t do it,” Hall said. “But read between the lines.”

Prosecutors here say the Native Americans were gathered illegally, without a permit. The UAINE group rejoins that no permit was necessary because the land they were assembled on was theirs in the first place.

Besides, said Boston civil rights attorney Michael L. Altman, who is representing a number of those arrested, “they’ve never had a permit in the 28 years they’ve been marching before.”

With most of those arrested charged with “minor misdemeanors, just a hair above traffic violations,” Altman said the encounter “got out of control” because “you’re dealing with a small-town police force that doesn’t know how to deal with any kind of conflict. They have no training in negotiation.”

Tourism remains a primary source of revenue here, and town leaders trade heavily on the image of Plymouth as the spot where, in 1620, Pilgrims from England and Holland found respite from religious persecution. Plimoth Plantation is a popular destination, a kind of historical theme park where players--including a loincloth-clad Native American--assume the identities of early residents. The Mayflower II, a replica of the ship that brought the Pilgrims to Plymouth, attracts thousands of visitors each year. Many cars here sport bumper stickers that read, “It all started in Plymouth--the rest is history.”

But by apparently attempting to quash Native American participation in the town’s Thanksgiving observance, town leaders “are just showing how naive they are,” said John Roberts, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union in Massachusetts.

Roberts said his group will likely bring a civil rights suit against Plymouth police in federal court. He also predicted that future UAINE demonstrations will grow larger--and that tensions will in no way abate.

But Talbot said she wished the two sides could just get along.

“We all know perfectly well that the Native Americans have a lot to regret with the Europeans arriving on this shore,” she said. “But that’s what happened.”