VOA · U.S. History
Intermediate · B1–B2learner speed4:232019-11-26public domain
The U.S. History series (The Making of a Nation) tells American history from the colonial era onward in VOA Special English: slow speed, limited vocabulary, long-form storytelling. Generations of learners have used this exact series to break through intermediate listening.
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01While the United States will celebrate Thanksgiving this Thursday, some Americans are marking the day with sadness.
02The United American Indians of New England call the national holiday a national day of mourning.
03They will mark the day in Plymouth, Massachusetts, the place where some of North America's first European settlers landed.
04Organizers describe the event as Native American groups have been holding the National Day of Mourning since 1970.
05But they say their message is especially urgent this year.
06That is because the town of Plymouth is getting ready to hold a number of events marking the settlers' arrival.
07The Pilgrims first landed in the Native Americans' land, what is now Massachusetts, nearly 400 years ago.
08As the anniversary nears, ancestors of the Native people who met the Pilgrims want to make sure the world hears the whole story.
09The Wampanoag tribe helped the European settlers survive.
10Its members say the settlers brought diseases, racism, and oppression.
11This year, on November 28th, people taking part in the National Day of Mourning will gather at midday on Coles Hill.
12The hill overlooks Plymouth Rock, a memorial to the colonists' arrival.
13The area also has a large statue of the Wampanoag leader in 1620.
14At the gathering, Native Americans from tribes around New England will beat drums, offer prayers, and read speeches.
15Then they will march through the streets of Plymouth, joined by like-minded supporters.
16Organizers say that this year, the marchers will call attention to the situation of missing and murdered Native women.
17They will also note government action on migrants from Latin America and the detentions of children.
18The organizers have already made signs saying, We didn't cross the border.
19The border crossed us.
20Francis Bremer is an expert on the Pilgrims and professor emeritus of history at Millersville University in Pennsylvania.
21He thinks the nation is listening better to what the Native groups are saying.
22He calls their message a side of the story that's too often been ignored.
23Paula Peters is a Wampanoag writer and activist.
24Peters sees progress in how Americans think about their history.
25They are starting to look past the false Thanksgiving story about pilgrims and Natives living peacefully together, she says.
26She adds that the work of Native groups continues to honor their ancestors.
27They are taking their history out of the margins and moving it to the center of attention.
28I'm Kelly Jean Kelly.
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