Thanksgiving is almost here! Unfortunately, many Thanksgiving books are full of historical inaccuracies…even down to the clothes the Pilgrims wore! Fortunately, Joseph Bruchac’s picture book biography SQANTO’S JOURNEY: THE STORY OF THE FIRST THANKSGIVING gives a better glimpse of what really happened that first Thanksgiving.
From Squanto’s perspective, Bruchac recounts how this Patuxet man, born into a family of Patuxet leaders, was captured on an English ship and sold into slavery in Spain. Spanish friars help free Squanto and many others, and Squanto begins the long journey home, hoping to reunite with his family. Devastated by what he finds on his return, Squanto becomes a guide and interpreter for the English in order to promote peace between them and the native tribes. He also teaches the English farming techniques to help them survive in the region.
The lustrous illustrations by Greg Shed perfectly capture the feelings of betrayal, sadness, and ultimately, the persevering hope this peace-loving Patuxet man experienced. Bruchac’s carefully researched biography helps the reader understand the complexities of the time period in a dramatic and absorbing story.
I also recently enjoyed Bruchac’s CHESTER NEZ AND THE UNBREAKABLE CODE: A NAVAJO CODE TALKER’S STORY. This picture book traces the life of Chester Nez, one of the original code talkers recruited by the US marines to create a code the Japanese could not break. The rich, painterly illustrations by Liz Amini-Holmes draw you into the story with expressive faces and emotionally wrought landscapes.
Growing up in a typical Native American boarding school of the time period, Chester Nez was told his Navajo language was useless. He was compelled to speak only English, in order to assimilate in the wider English-speaking culture. But when WWII broke out, Nez, like many Native Americans, wanted to defend the land he called home. The US marines came to the Navajo reservation where he lived and recruited Nez along with 28 other Navajo men. After the rigors of bootcamp, these 29 Navajo men were sequestered to create an “unbreakable code” using the (once thought “useless”) Navajo language. The code they developed was used long after the war. The wider public did not hear about the Navajo code talker’s contributions during WWII until 1968, when the code was no longer needed. President Ronald Reagan made August 14 National Code Talkers Day in 1982.
I love learning about pivotal moments in history – especially events I had no idea had such an incredible impact on our daily lives. Though I had heard of Navajo code talkers, I never knew this complicated language helped the Allied forces win WWII! On a day set aside to give special thanks to God for our blessings, these two picture books are a wonderful reminder of how our greatest blessings often come through people we’ve never met.