thoseromosers

Here's a story my daughter wrote when she was in third grade. 

Chapter 1: Europe In Europe, towns folk were very sad. They were forced to go to an established church, but the towns folk had different beliefs. They would hold secret meetings and got scared when put in jail by the king. The townspeople moved to Holland. (Some of them.) But did not speak Dutch. So they could not get good jobs, so they could not earn good money, and did not want their children to speak Dutch. 

In September 1620 their lives changed. They heard about a place called Virginia. They got a ship called the Mayflower and [another one called] the Speedwell. But first made a deal that for seven years they would give fish, fur and lumber [*]. Then they set off. Twice the Speedwell sprang a leak and had to head back. Finally they decided that the Mayflower would go alone.

OFF TO VIRGINIA!!!

Chapter 2: The Crossing Once they were on board they were very happy. They drank beer and salted fish. Yuck! That was when they realized it was bad. 

It was beginning to rain. There was a huge storm! William Bradford, directly related to Hannah Jones [**], helped people stay calm. When the storm was over it was only a little better. People heard rats scratching. The only thing the kids could drink was beer. If they drank salt water they would get crazy. A girl named Dorothy slipped on some ice and fell overboard and died. Then during another storm the main beam broke. Some thought all was lost, but it was repaired by an iron screw. The pilgrims prayed while the sailors swore. During the third storm a man was thrown overboard, but managed to grab hold of a rope and was pulled to safety. Finally they reached their new home! 

“The pilgrims prayed while the sailors swore.”

Chapter 3: The First Year

Finally they reached America. But they were way off course. They got off the boat and went off exploring. They saw a boulder and called it Plymouth Rock, and then they saw a broken down hut with big mounds of dirt. They unburied the dirt then saw a lot of corn! They brought 40 pieces back to the boat. Then when they went back to get more they heard a strange cry, they were Indians. The pilgrims shot guns and the Indians shot arrows. Luckily no one from either culture died. The pilgrims ran home. 

When they got home they found a new baby had been born, and called him Peregrine White. God be praised! Then finally their captain asked if any one of them wanted to go back. None of them did. About 14 days later, a bad disease spread and a quarter of the pilgrims died. Then one of the Indians came over. His name was Samosack. He taught them (the pilgrims) how to plant crops and other things. Finally the pilgrims were happy, and free! (Totally free.) Chapter 4: The First Thanksgiving Once the winter was over, half of the pilgrims were dead, and only four women were left. The pilgrims decided to have a feast. It was called The First Thanksgiving. 

The First Thanksgiving was on the 22 of November. All of the pilgrims came, 90 Indians came too. Back then the First Thanksgiving was called The Harvest Festival. When everybody came (there were no cars back then), it was from miles around. Everybody brought food because the relatives they visited are getting served their food, so they would bring food. So that it would be kind of a pay off. So that if they had been gathering food all summer they would not be wasting their food on friends or family. The feast would last three days because they usually do not walk about five miles to their relative's house and only come for dinner and then leave [***]. So that is why back then Thanksgiving would last three days. The kids would play games like Grab A Pillow (a very soft pillow), go to a very soft spot and try to push the other kids over. The men would shoot muskets (guns) and see how good they were at shooting. The women would cook turkey and pie, those were the things that they would eat for the feast. The Indians would go and hunt for deer and meat. [****] FINALLY EVERYTHING IS READY! THE END

[*] Your guess is as good as mine. 

[**] Coincidentally, Hannah is one of Katie’s best friends. 

[***] This is not based on anything I could find in Wikipedia.

The project started with two goals in mind. I wanted to learn more about our family history, and I wanted to share the process with my cousin (a journalist still in Michigan and closer to “home”). We were inspired by a new and exciting find: an early 18th century tribal census called the “Durant Roll.” There, inked onto a tattered ledger, was our great grandmother’s name. And surrounding her name, were possibly the names of family members we’d always imagined but had never heard of. It looked like a trip to a place called Sugar Island in Northern Michigan was on the horizon. 

But first, a DNA test. 

Weeks later and a late night chat with my mom put the Sugar Island plans on hold. There were new questions. Namely, why didn't my family have any DNA connection to anyone on the ledger? Or that my test results didn’t show any Native American DNA at all? Mom replied, “Well, actually...” and she opened up a secret closet-full of family gossip along with a whole new story. Apparently,  sailors are involved.

So, where does that leave me? I’m no longer connected to those Sugar Island ancestors who eked out a living sitting in birch canoes, fishing for pike, waiting for the lake to freeze over so they could sit in fish huts, fishing for pike. In a way, I’m grateful, because all the constructs I had before are now replaced with a speakeasy full or sailors, seamstresses, and characters I can dream up on my own. But I’m still going to look for those cousins, bro.