THE THANKSGIVING STORY
When the Pilgrims crossed the Atlantic Ocean in 1620,
they landed on the rocky shores of a territory that
was inhabited by the Wampanoag (Wam pa NO ag) Indians.
The Wampanoag lived in villages along the coast of
what is now Massachusetts and Rhode Island. They
lived in round-roofed houses called wigwams. These
were made of poles covered with flat sheets of elm
or birch bark.
Any visitor to a Wampanoag home was provided with a
share of whatever food the family had, even if the
supply was low. This same courtesy was extended to
the Pilgrims when they met.
It was mainly because of their kindness that the
Pilgrims survived at all. The wheat the Pilgrims had
brought with them to plant would not grow in the
rocky soil. They needed to learn new ways for a new
world, and the man who came to help them was called
"Squanto" (SKWAN toe).
Squanto was originally from the village of Patuxet
(Pa TUK et) and a member of the Pokanokit Wampanoag
nation. In 1605, fifteen years before the Pilgrims
came, Squanto went to England with an English
explorer named John Weymouth. He had many adventures
and learned to speak English. Squanto came back to
New England with Captain Weymouth. Later Squanto was
captured by a British slaver who raided the village
and sold Squanto to the Spanish in the Caribbean
Islands. A Spanish Franciscan priest befriended
Squanto and helped him to get to Spain and later
on a ship to England. Squanto then found Captain
Weymouth, who paid his way back home. In England
Squanto met Samoset of the Wabanake (Wab NAH key)
Tribe, who had also left his native home with an
English explorer. They both returned together to
Patuxet 1620. When they arrived, the village was
deserted, everyone in the village had died from an
illness the English slavers had left behind. Squanto
and Samoset went to stay with a neighboring village
of Wampanoags.
One year later, in the spring, Squanto and Samoset
were hunting along the beach near Patuxet. They were
startled to see people from England in their deserted
village. For several days, they stayed nearby
observing the newcomers. Finally they decided to
approach them. The Pilgrims were very surprised to
meet two Indians who spoke English.
The Pilgrims were not in good condition. They were
living in dirt-covered shelters, there was a shortage
of food, and nearly half of them had died during the
winter. They obviously needed help.
Squanto, who probably knew more English than any
other Indian in North America at that time, decided to
stay with the Pilgrims for the next few months and
teach them how to survive in this new place. He
brought them deer meat and beaver skins. He taught
them how to cultivate corn and other new vegetables
and how to build Indian-style houses. He pointed out
poisonous plants and showed how other plants could
be used as medicine. He explained how to dig and cook
clams, how to getsap from the maple trees, use fish
for fertilizer, and lots of other skills needed for
their survival.
By the time fall arrived things were going much better
for the Pilgrims, thanks to the help they had received.
The corn they planted had grown well. There was enough
food to last the winter. They were living comfortably
in their Indian-style wigwams and had also managed to
build one European-style building out of squared logs.
This was their church. They were now in better health,
and they knew more about surviving in this new land.
The Pilgrims decided to have a thanksgiving feast to
celebrate their good fortune.
Captain Miles Standish, the leader of the Pilgrims,
invited Squanto, Samoset, Massasoit (the leader of
the Wampanoags), and their immediate families to join
them for a celebration, but they had no idea how big
Indian families could be. As the Thanksgiving feast
began, the Pilgrims were overwhelmed at the large
turnout of ninety relatives that Squanto and Samoset
brought with them. The Pilgrims were not prepared
to feed a gathering of people that large for three
days. Seeing this, Massasoit gave orders to his men
within the first hour of his arrival to go home and
get more food.
Thus it happened that the Indians supplied the
majority of the food. Captain Standish sat at one
end of a long table and the Clan Chief Massasoit sat
at the other end. For the first time the Wampanoag
people were sitting at a table to eat instead of on
mats or furs spread on the ground. The Indian women
sat together with the Indian men to eat. The Pilgrim
women, however, stood quietly behind the table and
waited until after their men had eaten, since that
was their custom.
For three days the Wampanoags feasted with the
Pilgrims. It was a special time of friendship between
two very different groups of people. A peace and
friendship agreement was made between Massasoit and
Miles Standish giving the Pilgrims the clearing in
the forest where the old Patuxet village once stood
to build their new town of Plymouth.
Come see my other holiday pages:
My Homepage
See my cyber-adoptees
Happy Valentine's Day
Happy St. Patrick's Day
Happy Easter
Happy Mother's Day
Happy Fourth of July
Happy Halloween
Happy Hanukkah
Merry Christmas
Happy New Year
These great gifs came from:
JMDS Adopt A Globe
Cyberspace Place Backgrounds
Cat's Back Alley Graphic Connection
By Dezign
Dr. Who?'s
Dani's Delusions
Animation Factory
Made by Mary
Download a defiant turkey here!
