Thanksgiving, an American holiday where people sit down and feast with their families, has a rather different past than the one taught in schools. The reality of early colonial involvement in Native American lives that led to Thanksgiving seems more riddled with controversy than the textbooks care to depict.
Thanksgiving falls on the fourth Thursday in November. Every year people cook a large meal for their families and eat stuffing, mashed potatoes, green peas and other pre-colonial foods. A turkey, the centerpiece of the meal, comes from a later interpretation of the 1621 meal. The history of Thanksgiving becomes murky with different interpretations that developed over the course of history. Most American schools teach that the holiday celebrates a thankful feast in commemoration of the indigenous help the colonists received including how to farm, hunt and survive on the land. The real circumstances that led to the meal seem much more complex than a simple gathering.
Thanksgiving has many separate interpretations across many respective cultures. The Native Americans, the Wampanoag people and other indigenous people see Thanksgiving as the beginning of centuries of indigenous suffering. It appears, through first-hand historical documentation through Edward Winslow, the leader of the Plymouth colony, that the feast was more of a bittersweet alliance than a joyous gathering. The Wampanoag society had been struck by disease carried to the new world by the early Plymouth colonists which weakened the numbers and strength of the Wampanoag, thus the leader of the Wampanoag, Massasoit, came to Edward Winslow for an alliance. The Wampanoag did teach the colonists how to fish, hunt and aggregate the land and without them, the Plymouth colony would have failed. Based on written accounts, the feast itself had major tension from both sides that further instilled distrust between both groups. Both the Natives and the colonists contributed to the harvest with the Natives bringing venison and shellfish while the colonists brought squash and corn. The centerpiece of the feast, unlike today’s turkey, is debated. Though historians know that they had access to turkeys and hunted them regularly, they also know that the Natives did not consider turkey a delicacy. Instead, some people assume that a lobster might have appeared as the centerpiece on top of the table.
Of course, the sugar-coated story taught in schools appears much different. In American elementary schools, teaches Thanksgiving as a story of unity and gratitude. This version describes how Pilgrims, who had left England seeking religious freedom, struggled through a harsh winter. But, before they all died, Squanto, who was actually a member of the Patuxet people and not the Wampanoag, taught the Pilgrims how to live on his ancestral land. He showed them how to grow crops, fish and survive in the New World. After their first successful harvest, the Pilgrims invited the Wampanoag to a feast as a gesture of thanks for their help, leading to the first Thanksgiving.
What everyone chooses to believe is their choice, but through historical accounts written by the colonists themselves, the first Thanksgiving had tension and mistrust on both sides. For many Natives across North America, it marks the beginning of many centuries of suffering. To the average person, it does not matter. The wheels of Thanksgiving will continue to turn whether or not there is an agreement on how Thanksgiving began. So have a seat, enjoy the turkey, squash and corn, and enjoy the time with your family.
