In 1620, the Mayflower left England. Some came in search of a land where everyone on board could freely practice whatever religion their hearts desired, while others came in search of prosperity. A couple months later they landed in Cape Cod and began to establish a home at Plymouth.

The colonists weren't prepared for such a harsh winter. Only about half of the original colonists survived. In March, they were visited by an Abenaki tribe member who spoke English. Later he returned with a Native American named Squanto. Squanto had previously been sold into slavery by an English sea captain, which is how he spoke English.

Squanto taught the sickly Pilgrims how to catch fish, grow corn and avoid poison plants. The next year, Governor William Bradford organized a feast between the Pilgrims and the Wampanoag tribe. The festival lasted for three days and is now known as the first "Thanksgiving."

As nice as this story is, it doesn't end there. Word started to spread in England about this new world. The Puritans began arriving by boat and since they considered the land to be in the public domain, they seized it and captured the Native Americans to be sold into slavery or killed.

This resulted in The Pequot War, one of the bloodiest Native American war ever fought. Some say that the Thanksgiving actually comes from the feast thrown by the Puritans after they killed many Native American men, women and children.

So when you're chowing down on your turkey and stuffing this year, make sure you pay remembrance to the Native Americans that tragically lost their lives due to the violence of white supremacy that overruled back then and still to this day.

Give thanks for your family and keep the families of the people who lost their lives in one of the 307 mass shooting this year in your prayers.

Even though Thanksgiving may have a dark history, we should use this day to be thankful for the blessings in our lives.