I thought everyone would be interested in message below from Jeremy Bangs. In regard to the question if any Pilgrims married with the Indians?? I don't know if any of the Pilgrims did (haven't heard of any) but early settlers such as the Nickerson family who settled on Cape Cod in 1656 are known to have married Indians. I also have several Nickerson lines with a few believed to be Indian ancestors. Relatively, Muriel > Dear Muriel, > Stacy Wood forwarded your message together with the article from the Old > Colony Memorial about the observances in Plymouth. In it, Andres Araica is > quoted as saying that as "a teacher, he said he hoped people would > re-investigate history on their own, rather than believing what they learned > from history books." > Well, that's a nice sentiment, obviously. But I think I may be the first > person to examine in detail what is learned by so many people from Francis > Jennings' history book, The Invasion of America and the Cult of Conquest. > Since 1975 the attitudes in that book have been accepted by all but a few > historians. Jennings views all colonists as deceitful, evil, debased > criminals who robbed the Indians of their land and covered it all up with > false documentation intended to fool posterity. It is Jennings who gave the > appearance of legitimacy to the bizarre claims that have dominated the > commentary that recurs every Thanksgiving in celebrations such as that > reported in the O.C.M. > My new book demonstrates three things of interest to people who believe > that the Pilgrims do not fit that characterization: (1) Plymouth's court > established laws that followed the advice formulated by Roger Williams, > whereby the colonists bought land from the natives and Indian land owners > were treated equally and fairly under English law; (2) in the geographical > area of Plymouth Colony, there was no communally owned tribal land - all land > was held in defined tracts in hereditary ownership by individual sachems > (although their immediate family members had some sort of participation in > decisions about sales); (3) when one official, Josiah Winslow, devised ways > to get around the laws restricting sales by Indians to the court under fair > conditions (through his misuse of mortgage practices), the court worked with > some sachems to establish inalienable reservations intended to remain in > Indian possession forever. Two still exist. They are not tribal land but > instead should belong by law to the genealogical descendants of the owners > recognized by the court. > So the people who talk about genocide etc. and ignore the treaties of > friendship with the Indians (which Jennings dismissed as a sham) will not > like the book. But the people you wrote to might find it interesting. > Indian Deeds: Land Transactions in Plymouth Colony, 1620-1691 (NEHGS, > 2002). ca. 650 pp. It has a 225-page intro, followed by the complete texts of > all the deeds, so no one can imagine that parts of importance have been > suppressed. > Cheers, > > Jeremy Bangs >