The REAL Thanksgiving
- Nov 24, 2016
- 3 min read
Thanksgiving is a day we celebrate with friends and family where we come together to be thankful and enjoy a traditional home cooked meal based off of the meal eaten by the pilgrims and Native Americans. We are taught from an early age about the history of Thanksgiving in schools, as well as through our families. But what if our perception of Thanksgiving isn't accurate, and Thanksgiving is not actually what we all know it to be?
The Pilgrims first arrived in North America in November of 1620 in a town we know today as Provincetown, Cape Cod. Upon reaching North America and familiarizing themselves with their surroundings, the Pilgrims came across multiple hidden stores of foods including corn, beans, and also supplies such as baskets. In an attempt to become settled in their new home, they stole these stores of food and supplies which belonged to the local residents known as Native Americans. Throughout the next few weeks, the Pilgrims continued to find and take hidden stores of food and supplies all from under the watchful eyes of the Native Americans.
At one point during their stay, the Native Americans grew tired of the Pilgrims behavior and a battle was initiated. After the battle the Pilgrims decided to move their settlement inland to avoid anymore loss of lives and confrontations with the Native Americans. In December of 1620, a Native American named Tisquantum visited the new Pilgrim colony and assured them that his intentions were friendly and offered the Pilgrims his help.
Tisquantum taught the Pilgrims of the local soil, how to effectively plant crops, the resources that could be used as crop fertilizer, how to forage for local edible plants, and how to catch a variety of local seafood including clams, mussels, and lobster. The teachings and knowledge of Tisquantum were pertinent to the Pilgrims survival.
The first Thanksgiving also known as the Pilgrims first harvest occurred in 1621 and lasted for 3 days. The feast did not consist of the typical Thanksgiving fare that we know and love, but of cod, bass, corn, waterfowl, and of course turkey. The Native Americans also contributed to the feast by providing deer. Although this gathering was a celebration of the Pilgrims establishment in North America and of the harvest they were lucky enough to obtain through the teachings of Tisquantum, the credit of this bountiful harvest was given to God and the heavens.
The perceptions of Thanksgiving that we know and practice today began in 1863 during the Civil War. On the last Thursday of November, Abraham Lincoln declared a day of Thanksgiving for the United States, and declared that though the country was in the midst of a civil war there was still much to be thankful for. In regards to the traditional foods we typically eat on Thanksgiving including turkey, cranberry sauce, mashed potatoes, squash, etc., this tradition was developed in the Victorian era who began serving these Thanksgiving staples the last Thursday of November yearly. The connection was then established and Americans began cooking these foods on Thanksgiving day.
Thanksgiving has become a day to celebrate with family, and friends around a table and be thankful for what we have. It is a day I look forward to every year and even discovering the true accounts of Thanksgiving, will continue to look forward to and enjoy. What I have taken from this information is to not only be thankful, but to treasure those around me and not take advantage of anything or anyone that has positively effected my life in some way. We owe gratitude to the Native Americans that ensured our well-being and lives in North America.
With that being said, Happy Thanksgiving to all. I hope you all have a wonderful day with family, and friends. Let us not forget about the Native Americans who ensured our survival, and let us be thankful not just today but everyday for what we have and continue to receive.
1. Wallach J. How America eats: a social history of U.S. food and culture. 1st ed. Lanham, Maryland: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers; 2013.
2. Guptill A, Copelton D, Lucal B. Food & society: principles and paradoxes. 3rd ed. Malden, MA: Polity Press; 2015.
Comments