Open University of Wellfleet
  • Home
  • About
    • Board of Directors
    • FAQ
    • Genesis of the Open University of Wellfleet
  • Instructors
    • John Dennis Anderson
    • Janis Bergman-Carton
    • Judith Blau
    • Betsy Bray
    • Barbara Brennessel
    • Bill Burke
    • Dwight Estey
    • John Cumbler
    • Nathalie Ferrier
    • Rhoda Flaxman
    • Morgan Henderson
    • Deborah Forman
    • Ed Golden
    • Elissa Greenwald
    • Megan Hinton
    • Grace Hopkins
    • Alice M. Iacuessa
    • Fred Magee
    • Jeanne Mc Nett
    • Linda B. Miller
    • Ed Miller
    • Julie Mockabee
    • Pat Nash
    • Christopher Ostrom
    • John Portnoy
    • Steve Reynolds
    • Robert Rindler
    • Seth Rolbein
    • Elliot Paul Rothman
    • Martha L. Rothman
    • Paul Savage
    • Jim Sefcik
    • Lewis Shepard
    • John Shuman
    • Jan Sidebotham
    • Toby Simon
    • Marc Strauss
    • George Swope
    • Jeff Tash
    • John Thornley
    • Don Wilding
    • David Wright
    • Call For Instructors And Course Ideas
    • Instructor Interest Form
  • News
  • Course Archives
  • Gallery
  • Contact

The First Light: A brief look at the long history of the first inhabitants of the Cape, with Paul Savage

SKU:
$60.00
$60.00
Unavailable
per item

Wednesday afternoons from 1-2:20 in person at Wellfleet Preservation Hall (or on Zoom if necessary)


October 26, November 2, 9, 16, 23

Course limited to 24 participants. 


Cape Cod’s history is indelibly linked to Nov. 1620 when the Pilgrims landed at Provincetown. In Massachusetts, the Cape and Islands–and in numerous locations of North America--thousands of places are named for Native American peoples, cultures and nations. This is a journey back to the origins of human settlement in North America and the Cape. The class will include two classroom meetings and three field trips:


   - the Cape Cod National Seashore Visitor’s Center in Eastham to meet park historian Bill Burke, who will help us explore archaeology of the park’s first inhabitants. Time TBD.

   -Plymouth Pawtucket on October 26 from 2-4 p.m.($28 additional fee, to be collected in class)

   -Mashpee, date and time TBD to replace one class.


The goal of this class is to illuminate ourselves to the People of the First Light.


We will read and discuss Daniel J. Silverman’s book “This Land Is Their Land: The Wampanoag Indians, Plymouth Colony, and the Troubled History of Thanksgiving”. Here is a description of Prof. Silverman’s book:


In March 1621, when Plymouth's survival was hanging in the balance, the Wampanoag sachem (or chief), Ousamequin (Massasoit), and Plymouth's governor, John Carver, declared their people's friendship for each other and a commitment to mutual defense. Later that autumn, the English gathered their first successful harvest and lifted the specter of starvation. Ousamequin and 90 of his men then visited Plymouth for the “First Thanksgiving.” The treaty remained operative until King Philip's War in 1675, when 50 years of uneasy peace between the two parties would come to an end.


400 years after that famous meal, historian David J. Silverman sheds profound new light on the events that led to the creation, and bloody dissolution, of this alliance. Focusing on the Wampanoag Indians, Silverman deepens the narrative to consider tensions that developed well before 1620 and lasted long after the devastating war-tracing the Wampanoags' ongoing struggle for self-determination up to this very day.


This unsettling history reveals why some modern Native people hold a Day of Mourning on Thanksgiving, a holiday which celebrates a myth of colonialism and white proprietorship of the United States. This Land is Their Land shows that it is time to rethink how we, as a pluralistic nation, tell the history of Thanksgiving.

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Google+
1 available
Add to Cart
© Open University of Wellfleet 2017 all rights reserved 
PO Box 711 South Wellfleet, MA 02663-0711


Scholarships available upon request

Web site design by: CynthiaFrankDesign
Photos by: Dr. Fred Kavalier, Grace Hopkins and Betsy Bray


The Open University of Wellfleet, MA a 501 c3,  aims to sustain and enrich intellectual life on the Outer Cape during the shoulder seasons. We offer courses to the public, for a modest fee, that celebrate the area's rich history and culture and draw on the talents and expertise of our residents. Our educational forum stresses collaborative learning, with lectures by instructors, directed discussions, readings and participant contributions. Our classes welcome participants from all over Cape Cod to some of Wellfleet's most charming and accessible locations.
about
contact