Happy Thanksgiving!!
Here is some of the story of the First Thanksgiving
from Pilgrims.net:
Thanksgiving and the Pilgrims seem to go
together, just like Christmas and Santa Claus--but the truth is, the
Pilgrims never held an autumnal Thanksgiving feast. Before you cancel
the turkey, take a look at the origin of that particular myth. In some
ways, the truth is even more intriguing.The Pilgrims did have a feast in 1621,
after their first harvest, and it is this feast which people often refer
to as 'The First Thanksgiving.' This feast was never repeated, though,
so it can't be called the beginning of a tradition, nor was it termed by
the colonists or "Pilgrims" a Thanksgiving Feast. In fact, to these
devoutly religious people, a day of thanksgiving was a day of prayer and
fasting, and would have been held any time that they felt an extra day
of thanks was called for. Nevertheless, the 1621 feast has become a
model that we think of for our own Thanksgiving celebration and we do
know something of the truth about it.
We can assume, for example, that the
harvest feast was eaten outside based on the fact that the Colonists
didn't have a building large enough to accommodate all the people who
came. Native People were definately among the invited guests, and it's
possible. even probable, that turkey (roasted but not stuffed) and
pumpkin in some form, found their way to the table. And it gets better.
This is the way the feast was described in a first-hand account
presumably by a leader of the colony, Edward Winslow, as it appears in
Mourt's Relation:
'Our harvest being gotten in, our governor sent
four men on fowling, that so we might after a special manner rejoice
together after we had gathered the fruit of our labors. They four in
one day killed as much fowl as, with a little help beside, served the
company almost a week. At which time, amongst other recreations, we
exercised our arms, Many of the Indians coming amongst us, and among
the rest their greatest King Massasoit, with some ninety men, whom for
three days we entertained and feasted, and they went out and killed
five deer, which they brought to the plantation and bestowed on our
governor, and upon the captain and others. And although it be not
always so plentiful as it was this time with us, yet by the goodness
of God, we are so far from want that we often wish you partakers of
our plenty.'
From this we know that the feast went on
for three days , included ninety 'Indians,' and food was plentiful. In
addition, to the vensison provided by the Indians, there was enough wild
fowl to supply the village for a week. The fowl would have included
ducks, geese, turkeys and even swans.
Much of the
information we have about the feast, and this period in the lives of
these people, is the result of research conducted by the staff at
Plimoth Plantation, the living museum in Plymouth, Massachusetts, that re-creates the lives
of the Pilgrims with Mayflower II, the 1627 Pilgrim Village, and a
native homesite. From this research we know about the foods and
recipes that would have been available to them, and from
two first hand accounts(the second was written by William Bradford,
Governor of the colony for 33 years, and can be read in Of Plymouth
Plantation 1620-1647), we have a good idea of how the village looked,
what the colonists wore, how they spoke, what animals they owned and how
they lived. We even know what games they played, what their views may
have been on everything from their new home to religion and politics.
And with all this knowledge, we piece together what foods would have
been served at the feast, how the table looked, how the setting looked,
even perhaps what the conversation was like."
Would you ever try one of the recipes from the
First Thanksgiving? Many meals include old-fashioned
ingredients like cracked wheat, ground mace, dried tongue, stale water,
and hardtack.
Stuff yourself this
Thanksgiving? Does it inspire you to want to help those who don't
have enough food to eat?
Click the button to visit The Hunger Site, where
every day that you click their Hunger button, they donate a cupful of
food to someone in need. It may sound like a little, but the more
people who do it, the more of a difference you can make.
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