Have you heard the story of the first Thanksgiving? Artwork depicting day shows the Pilgrims sitting down to a feast with the Native People of the area, whom they had invited to the celebration. In reality, we know very little about the first Thanksgiving, and much of what we do know suggests a far more complicated history. So, the A Grade Ahead staff set out to explore the true story of the first Thanksgiving.
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The Traditional Tale of the First Thanksgiving
According to folklore, the Pilgrims set sail on the Mayflower for the New World in 1620. After being blown off course, they landed in Plymouth Bay in the land they called “New England.” The Pilgrims suffered through a brutal first winter, but throughout the Spring and Summer of 1621, the local Native People, the Wampanoag, taught them what to plant and how to gather food from the surrounding area. After a bountiful harvest, the Pilgrims called for a day of thanksgiving and invited the Wampanoag to the feast. For many, the story of the first Thanksgiving ends here, suggesting that the Pilgrims and the Wampanoag peacefully coexisted thereafter.
Who Attended the Feast?
The Wampanoag People
A Grade Ahead’s adventure begins with the people who attended the feast: the Wampanoag and the Plymouth settlers.
The term “Wampanoag” (often pronounced Waamp-a-no-ag) means “the People of the First Light.” They are an ancient people who have lived in what is now Massachusetts and eastern Rhode Island for more than 12,000 years. Although today there are about 4,000-5,000 Wampanoag in New England, in 1620, they numbered 40,000 people living in 67 villages.
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The Wampanoag people are thankful for the blessings they receive from the Creator, and so thanksgiving traditions are a part of their daily lives. They particularly thank the Creator every time they sit down to a meal and when they build their homes.
Plymouth Settlers
The English people also had thanksgiving traditions, like calling for days of prayer and thanksgiving feasts to celebrate wonderful events.
The English colonists who settled in what became known as New England arrived on the Mayflower in the late fall of 1620. Many of them were Separatists who protested the Church of England’s practices and wanted to find somewhere to practice their faith freely. Subsequent generations called them the “Pilgrims.” These Pilgrims traveled with “Strangers,” however, who were other English families simply seeking to start over in the New World. These Pilgrims and Strangers did not always get along with each other, so the first Thanksgiving also represents a moment of peace between them as well as between the English settlers and the Wampanoag people.
Interactions
The Wampanoag had already had contact with European explorers and fishermen before the English colonists began to settle in New England. Unfortunately, their interactions were not always peaceful. Moreover, the Europeans brought diseases from which the Native People died in great numbers.
The story of Tisquantum, who is known to us as Squanto, is an excellent example. He had been kidnapped and carried off to England as a young man. After escaping from the English, he returned home to find that his village had been decimated by disease. A man without a home, he settled near Osamequin, the sachem or principal leader of the Wampanoag Confederation whom the English called Massasoit.
By 1621, the Wampanoag population was declining just as they were facing challenges from both the new English settlers and their old rivals, the Narragansett. Osamequin and his people chose to help the colonists rather than go to war with them, and therefore he asked Samoset, a member of the Abenaki staying with him who spoke some English, to contact the Plymouth colonists. Eventually, he also allowed Tisquantum, who was more fluent in English, to teach the colonists how to survive in New England and establish peaceful relations with the English people.
One day, Osamequin and about 90 of his people happened to be near Plymouth when the English colonists were preparing a thanksgiving celebration. They were invited to join the festivities.
The Festivities
The first Thanksgiving is actually only mentioned in passing in a letter by Edward Winslow, a Plymouth colonist. His account was eventually published in England to advertise the experiences of the early colonists.
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Because this account is so brief, we only really know that it took place, and how many Wampanoag attended. According to Winslow’s description, the Wampanoag brought venison, which made up a part of the feast. We think they also ate corn, beans, and various squashes, like pumpkin and zucchini. They might have also enjoyed shellfish, nuts and berries, and waterfowl.
Attendees not only ate but also sang, played games, and danced. This was truly a celebration of their continuing survival. The religious tradition of quiet prayer and reflection characterized the subsequent thanksgiving days in New England.
What Happened Next
In the 1700s, the true story of the first Thanksgiving was obscured by the fanciful tale told by descendants of the first settlers that we know today. These descendants called their forefathers the Pilgrims and invented the tradition of “Plymouth Rock,” on which they said the Pilgrims landed. In their story, the Wampanoag became passive guests, and the Strangers disappeared from the collective memory.
The peace between the Wampanoag and the Plymouth settlers broke down within a generation. After the deaths of Osamequin and Edward Winslow, the Plymouth settlers more aggressively expanded into Wampanoag land and tried to subjugate them. Some of the Wampanoag, led by Osamequin’s son Metacomet, chose to fight back. The subsequent war further destroyed most of the Wampanoag people. Those who remained adapted to the new situation while passing down their traditions. Today, their communities share their ways of life with others.
Currently
Now, the Wampanoag’s story is being told alongside that of the Pilgrims, and more Americans are beginning to reconcile the traditional tale with the true story. Thanksgiving itself has evolved into a national celebration that varies from region to region and among the many ethnic groups that now make-up the American people.
What is your Thanksgiving story? We would love to hear about your family’s Thanksgiving traditions in the comments below!
Author: Susanna Robbins, Teacher and Franchise Assistant at A Grade Ahead
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