Tribal scholars challenge inherited assumptions.

Primary sources are reread from different perspectives.

Words once accepted casually — “discovery,” “empty land,” “friendship,” “civilization” — are examined more carefully.

Tisquantum’s story is one of the clearest examples of how a familiar national narrative can change when the people once placed at its margins move to the center.

The result is not a less interesting story.

It is a more human one.

The National Day Of Mourning And The Memory Of 1621

In 1970, the 350th anniversary of the Mayflower landing became the site of another major conflict over how Plymouth history should be remembered.

Wamsutta Frank James, an Aquinnah Wampanoag man, had been invited to speak at an anniversary event.

Organizers objected to the speech he intended to deliver because it sharply criticized the historical treatment of Native peoples.