It's in that vein of celebrating immigration that this year's event has taken off. Despite the week's international flair, costumed marchers will proceed as usual on Thanksgiving Day from Plymouth Rock to the site of the first meeting house in the 80th annual Pilgrim Progress spectacle. Our goal, though, is to be salt and light. Church members did so in part by sponsoring a Pilgrim float in the multicultural parade on Saturday. American Indian protesters aren't entirely pleased with the new arrangement either.
Native people continue to live in the absolute worst conditions on small squats of land.
None of this is changing. Though the National Day of Mourning began in the early 1970s, it took a new turn in 1997 with a march through Plymouth on Thanksgiving Day. Police arrested 25 protesters who sought to draw attention to native sufferings since Europeans first arrived here. Today, local historians often speak of the harmony that existed between Pilgrims and Indians at the first Thanksgiving and for the first 50 years of settlement. And for the most part, Plymouth residents say they support the new direction of Thanksgiving celebrations.