Life — November 20, 1924 — page 1: what you’re looking at

What you’re looking at

This is the cover of Life's "Thanksgiving Number," featuring whimsical illustrations of Pilgrims and Native Americans celebrating together. The imagery depicts the traditional Thanksgiving narrative: Pilgrims in buckled hats and period dress, along with figures in Native American attire, sharing a feast and preparing food. The caption credits "The Birch-Bark News, November, 1621," creating a fictional historical reference that frames Thanksgiving as a 1621 celebration—aligning with the popular origin myth of Thanksgiving. For modern readers: This reflects the holiday's sanitized historical narrative common in 1920s America, celebrating Native-Settler cooperation without acknowledging colonization's devastating effects. The romanticized imagery perpetuates a "peaceful coexistence" myth that obscures the actual history of displacement and cultural destruction.