A replica of the Mayflower now sits in Plymouth Harbor, staffed with first-person interpreters. This is Captain Christopher Jones in his cabin. He didn't have a very high opinion of Calvinists, apparently, which made for an interesting conversation with this Calvinist. (The captain's take: "Ah, well. People can change.") He was an excellent and highly entertaining interpreter.


Naturally we had to see the rather underwhelming Plymouth Rock, which no one any longer believes has any association with the colonists but which nonetheless retains its place in legend.

I've started making necklaces as mementos of the places we've visited, and I figured I could find my own Plymouth rock that would be pretty much as authentic a bit of history as the Plymouth Rock, so I headed to the shore to beachcomb. I'd seen some gorgeous wampum jewelry in the gift shop (which was in use as currency between the colonists and the Wampanoag from about 1624 on) and was delighted to find a large piece of quahog shell, the clam from which wampum is made. And I found a shell that to me reflected a more sobering monument to the landing of the Pilgrims and that "first" Thanksgiving.


When Squanto, Hobbamock, and the other Native Americans were helping the Pilgrims survive, they probably didn't expect that one day the Europeans would spread over the continent and outnumber the Native population, like the white that seems to be spreading over this shell. I called it my Doctrine of Discovery shell. (If this term is unfamiliar to you, as it was to me until my daughter told me about it and forever ruined my sanitized view of history, you can read about it and an excerpt from it here; an article about Pope Francis' recent response to it here; and a lengthy report about it from the Christian Reformed Church [made up of some of those Calvinists that Captain Jones disliked; turns out he was right; people—and theological positions—do change] here. Oh, and a bunch of stuff that my daughter helped shape while she was messing with my view of history here.)


That part of the story wasn't being told when I was in Mrs. Oostendorp's third-grade class; the Day of Mourning wouldn't be observed for another three years. It seems inconceivable now; I know that some readers of this blog completely agree with the sentiments of the Day of Mourning and that others think it's a load of politically-correct BS. Undoubtedly many fall somewhere between those two poles. But regardless of your opinions on that issue, there is no denying that the long-term consequences of European settlement were injurious to the Native population.

And that's where the necklace comes in. (Stay with me here.)

I went home with my beachcombed finds and started trying to make a necklace. I thought I'd an anchor charm to represent the Pilgrims and the Mayflower, the quahog shell to represent the Wampanoag people, the rock to represent (duh) Plymouth Rock, and the shell above to show what happened and to acknowledge the Day of Mourning memorial.

It looked terrible.

And I wanted it to look nice. I harbor hopes of someday maybe selling some of my creations, but who would want an ugly necklace? That beautiful bit of quahog shell, though, looked gorgeous with the silver anchor. Maybe I could leave out the Doctrine of Discovery shell; it worked for Mrs. Oostendorp. The result was much better, but my Plymouth rock, chosen at random from the beach in Plymouth Harbor, didn't really fit with the other two pieces. I did, however, have a rock from another location—I don't remember exactly where—that would look great.

A pretty necklace, don't you think?


And then's when I got it: why history gets sanitized and how easily it can happen. Third-graders shouldn't have to deal with genocide (I mean that; I'm not being sarcastic), so we leave out the whole Doctrine of Discovery shell. And okay, that rock/detail of the necklace/story isn't quite authentic, but it's a lot prettier—and we want people to like it.

So now not only do I have to give up my sanitized view of history, but I can't even feel smugly superior to the sanitizers. But I do have a pretty necklace.

(I also made a "hard truths" necklace. This one includes the Doctrine of Discovery shell and the real rock I found in Plymouth. I added some purple-and-white beads to represent wampum, and that fish under the three kernels of Indian corn is a reminder of the fish Squanto taught the colonists to plant under the "three sisters" of corn, squash, and beans. And guess what? I like it even better than the pretty version.)



Jane