The 56th Annual National Day of Mourning – Plymouth, MA

The 56th Annual National Day of Mourning was held on Thanksgiving Day, November 27, 2025, at Cole’s Hill in Plymouth, Massachusetts. Since 1970, Indigenous people and allies have gathered here each year to mourn ancestors lost to colonization and to challenge the myth of Pilgrims and Native harmony. The tradition began when Wamsutta Frank James of the Wampanoag Nation was prevented from delivering a speech that told the truth about genocide and land theft. In response, he and others created a day of remembrance and protest that has continued for more than half a century, organized by the United American Indians of New England.

This year’s gathering drew hundreds despite the cold weather. The atmosphere was solemn yet defiant, filled with drumming, prayers, and speeches that reminded participants that Thanksgiving is not a simple holiday of gratitude but a day that must confront the truth of colonization. Speakers described the genocide of millions of Native people, the theft of land, and the erasure of cultures. They called for Land Back, climate justice, and resistance to racism, sexism, homophobia, and the destruction of the Earth introduced by colonization.

A powerful theme of the 56th Day of Mourning was solidarity with Palestinians. Speakers declared that from Turtle Island to Palestine, colonialism is a crime. They emphasized that both Indigenous Americans and Palestinians face settler colonialism, displacement, and attempts at erasure, and that their struggles are interconnected. Calls were made to stand with Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank, linking the Thanksgiving myth to the propaganda that obscures Palestinian dispossession.

The gathering was both a remembrance and a rallying cry. It affirmed Indigenous survival despite centuries of violence and underscored the importance of truth-telling and solidarity. By explicitly connecting Indigenous resistance with Palestinian liberation, the Day of Mourning revealed a profound truth: from Plymouth Rock to Gaza, the struggle against settler colonialism is shared, and the fight for justice is global.