The Truth About the
Pilgrims and Thanksgiving
"The First Thanksgiving"
The Pilgrims
did have a feast in 1621, after their first harvest,
and it is
this feast which people often refer to as
"The First
Thanksgiving". This feast was never repeated,
though, so
it can't be called the beginning of a tradition,
nor was it
termed by the colonists or "Pilgrims"
a
Thanksgiving Feast. In fact, to these devoutly
religious
people, a day of thanksgiving was
a day of
prayer and fasting, and would have been
held any
time that they felt an extra day of thanks
was called
for. Nevertheless, the 1621 feast has become
a model that
we think of for our own Thanksgiving
celebration
and we do know something of the truth about it.
We can
assume, for example, that the harvest feast
was eaten
outside based on the fact that the Colonists
didn't have
a building large enough to accommodate
all the
people who came. Native People were
definately
among the invited guests, and it's possible.
even
probable, that turkey (roasted but not stuffed)
and pumpkin
in some form, found their way to the table.
And it gets
better. This is the way the feast was described
in a
first-hand account presumably by a leader of the
colony,
Edward Winslow, as it appears in Mourt's Relation:
"Our harvest
being gotten in, our governor sent four
men on
fowling, that so we might after a special
manner
rejoice together after we had gathered the
fruit of our
labors. They four in one day killed as
much fowl
as, with a little help beside, served the
company
almost a week. At which time, amongst other
recreations,
we exercised our arms, Many of the
Indians
coming amongst us, and among the rest their
greatest
King Massasoit, with some ninety men, whom for
three days
we entertained and feasted, and they went out
and killed
five deer, which they brought to the plantation and
bestowed on
our governor, and upon the captain and others.
And although
it be not always so plentiful as it was this time
with us, yet
by the goodness of God, we are so far from want
that we
often wish you partakers of our plenty."
From this we
know that the feast went on for three days ,
included
ninety "Indians", and food was plentiful. In addition,
to the
vensison provided by the Indians, there was enough
wild fowl to
supply the village for a week. The fowl would
have
included ducks, geese, turkeys and even swans.
Much of the
information we have about the feast, and
this period
in the lives of these people, is the result of
research
conducted by the staff at Plimoth Plantation, the living
museum in
Plymouth, Massachusetts, that re-creates the
lives of the
Pilgrims with Mayflower II, the 1627
Pilgrim
Village, and a native homesite. From this research
we know
about the foods and recipes that would have
been
available to them, and from two first hand accounts
(the second
was written by William Bradford, Governor
of the
colony for 33 years, and can be read in
Of Plymouth
Plantation 1620-1647), we have a
good idea of
how the village looked, what the colonists
wore, how
they spoke, what animals they owned and how
they lived.
We even know what games they played, what
their views
may have been on everything from
their new
home to religion and politics.
On
this Thanksgiving let us remember the
families who lost loved ones on 911. Let
us
all be thankful for all our Blessings!
And let us remember the POW's,
those with no food or shelter in our
prayers! Think of the things we
take for granted and be Thankful!
Created
by: Maureen
