Thanksgiving Reflections
Tomorrow is Thanksgiving Day in America and typically this is the day to write a note about what we are thankful for. Yesterday, I attended my daughter’s preschool class celebration of Thanksgiving where each child had on either a pilgrim or Native American headdress and sat down to a mini-Thanksgiving meal of turkey, corn, mashed potatoes, rolls and cranberry sauce (oh, and their favorite part, brownies, because none of them like pumpkin pie).
In preparation for this post, and knowing that many people might have a hard time being thankful this Thanksgiving due to the difficulties of this economy, I wanted to know a little bit about what it was like for those original pilgrims and Indians. The story, it turns out, is quite interesting and much different than the version I was taught. While I am no historian, the Thanksgiving version below was cobbled together from Wikipedia entries on Thanksgiving and the Plymouth Colony as well as this children’s educational presentation from Plimouth Plantation.
In 1620, a mixed group of 102 passengers set sail for modern day America aboard The Mayflower. Of the 70 adults on board, 27 were religious “Pilgrims” seeking freedom from religious persecution and 43 were “Strangers,” i.e. people hired by the financial backers of the venture to govern the colony and provide for its defense. When they finally landed in modern day Massachusetts, they faced a difficult winter. Many of them continued to live on board the ship while some began to build houses. 45 people (almost half) died that first winter from either disease or the difficult living conditions.
That spring, the colonists met Samoset, a Native American from the Abenaki tribe who had learned English from his encounters with English fishermen off the coast of Maine. Samoset introduced them to Squanto, a Native American from the Patuxet tribe who had been previously captured by the English and taken as a slave to live in Europe. Squanto learned English well and managed to return to America as a guide for another colonial expedition. Squanto taught the colonists basic survival skills, including how to plant corn. Squanto also served as interpreter for the colonists interactions with Massasoit, the grand sachem of the seven Wampanoag sachems (tribes) in the area.
The relationship between the Plymouth Bay settlers and the Wampanoag was a tense one. The English colonists offended their Native American neighbors with unprovoked killings and by stealing their corn rations, disturbing graves, and manipulating land sales. The Wampanoag, through Massasoit, negotiated a peace settlement. Massasoit wasn’t necessarily thrilled with the colonists but the Wampanoag numbers had been decimated by smallpox and an alliance with the English would help the Wampanoag fend off attacks from neighboring tribes.
In the fall of 1621, Governor William Bradford called for three days of celebration and military displays in light of the fair harvest they had obtained (due to Squanto’s help). The 53 colonists complied with this request. At some point, Massasoit and 90 members of the Wampanoag tribe arrived to join the celebration. (It is not clear whether they were invited or just crashed the party.) The Wampanoag brought five deer for the feasting and the colonists provided fowl, fish and corn. It is not known whether there was any interaction between the Wampanoag and the colonists other than through food, games and firing off weapons. There were only four adult women colonists still alive at this point so they were either working madly to entertain 143 people for three days or they just sat back and watched this masculine festival. It was never called “Thanksgiving” which was the name of a specific Pilgrim religious service. Squanto, who might be given credit for the fact that the first “Thanksgiving” ever occurred, died a year later and it is not clear whether he might have been poisoned by Native Americans who mistrusted him.
In 1777, the Continental Congress called for a national day of Thanksgiving to celebrate the American victory in the Revolutionary War. For unknown reasons they picked a Thursday in December. National days of Thanksgiving were proclaimed by various Presidents, although not necessarily on an annual basis, and typically in response to military victories. Some states also marked Thanksgiving on varying days of the year. In 1863, President Lincoln declared the first recurring national day of Thanksgiving on the fourth Thursday of November at the suggestion of the editor of a national women’s magazine.
After this research, it is not entirely clear to me exactly what we are celebrating on Thanksgiving! The theme through all of its incarnations, however, is likely the endurance of the human spirit and the ability to appreciate small successes and look forward toward a brighter future after difficult times. That message resonates this year perhaps more than most. There is so much negativity in the news today and if you read the news regularly, it is easy to become fearful and depressed. Our troubles today perhaps are small compared to those faced by people in the past, but can seem insurmountable.
Taking time to find and appreciate the small points of light in our lives is important. Yesterday evening, I had the privilege to reflect on this point when my neighbors hosted a gathering and impromptu concert by a young opera talent. An opportunity like this is quite rare and my neighbors recognized this. Even though my neighbors are hosting Thanksgiving for their own friends and family tomorrow and will have a house full of people, they made the time to organize the event for the neighborhood and prepare a beautiful dinner for 20+ guests! Neighbors took time from their own busy lives to attend, some even getting formally dressed for the occasion. The opera singer struggled through hours of traffic on I-95 to make it. When she sang, her beautiful voice filled the whole house and instantly captivated all of us, including my two squirmy young children. Hearing her voice was incredibly inspirational and it was exciting to know that this young woman was sure to go on to many great performances, including a performance tonight at the Kennedy Center. The whole evening was a reminder that the future holds great promise but that we also need to make time to remember and celebrate that promise.
This Thanksgiving weekend, I hope you make time to discover and remember something that makes you hopeful for the future. As for Ruly, I am grateful and thankful for my wonderful readers who energize and challenge me. Your support keeps me going!
Have a wonderful Thanksgiving! Due to the holiday, there will be no post this Friday but I will be back again on Monday.