As We Gather
Most of us are looking forward to the holidays this year since 2020 was void of any family gatherings. Even though the pandemic has been difficult, scary, and life-changing, we believe many good changes have come out of this. One is the realization that gathering with friends and family should never be taken for granted.
Why do we gather to celebrate Thanksgiving?
In 1621, the Plymouth colonists and the Native Americans shared an autumn harvest feast 400 years ago that acknowledged the first Thanksgiving day. In 1863, in the midst of the Civil War, President Abraham Lincoln proclaimed Thanksgiving Day to be held each November.
The first colonists that left Plymouth, England, and headed to the “new world” faced very treacherous conditions. It took them 66 days to get to what is now Cape Cod, Massachusetts. During that first winter. most of the colonists remained on the ship, where they suffered exposure to the elements, scurvy, and outbreaks of contagious disease. Only half of the original passengers and crew lived to see the first spring in New England.
What did the Native Americans and Colonists eat during that first Thanksgiving?
To celebrate its first success as a colony the Pilgrims held a “harvest feast”. Many historians tell us the dishes were prepared using Native American spices and cooking methods. The Native American neighbors helped with the bounty and taught the colonists how to plant beans and squash in a mound with maize around it and use fish remains as fertilizer. Other vegetables that likely appeared on the table were onions, beans, lettuce, spinach, cabbage, carrots, and maybe peas. Fruits that were indigenous to the region were blueberries, plums, grapes, gooseberries, raspberries, and yes cranberries. (they probably didn’t make a sauce because sugar was not available until 50 years later) There were no ovens, so most likely no sweets such as pies and cakes were served.
Why did Thanksgiving become synonymous with shopping?
In 1939 President Franklin D Roosevelt move the holiday up a week in an attempt to spur retail sales during the Great Depression. His plan was met with much resistance and in 1941 he reluctantly signed a bill making Thanksgiving the fourth Thursday in November.
The Wampanoag “People of the First Light”
We cannot discuss Thanksgiving without talking about the Native Americans that were already living and thriving before the English came ashore near Cape Cod. The Wampanoag were a people of a sophisticated society who occupied the region for thousands of years. They had their own government, culture, and religious beliefs. The Wampanoag shared their land, food, and knowledge of the environment with the English. Without their help, the English would not have had a successful first Thanksgiving. They were also good teachers of giving thanks as that was a way of life for them.
As we gather to celebrate Thanksgiving with our friends and family, we should also recognize the country’s original people, the Native American people that lived here hundreds of years before the first Pilgrims. November is American Indian Heritage Month, so take the time to learn more about the Native American Indians and all they have sacrificed and lost.
