Post by blackcrowheart on Nov 16, 2005 18:12:09 GMT -5
from the November 27, 2002 edition –
www.csmonitor.com/2002/1127/p13s02-lign.html
The first Thanksgiving
In the fall of 1621, 90 Wampanoag Indians and 52 English colonists
gathered for a three-day harvest feast. How did Americans get from that
celebration to the Thanksgiving 'traditions' we observe today?
By Elizabeth Armstrong | Special to The Christian Science Monitor
PLYMOUTH, MASS. - Everyone knows about the Pilgrims and the Indians,
right? How the two groups gathered peacefully in Plymouth, Mass., to
feast on juicy turkeys and colorful pumpkin pies.
The trouble is, almost everything we've been taught about the first
Thanksgiving in 1621 is a myth. The holiday has two distinct histories -
the actual one and a romanticized portrayal.
Today, Americans celebrate a holiday based largely on the latter, whose
details of turkey and cranberry sauce decorating one long table stem
from the creative musings of a magazine editor in the mid-1800s.
The true history has been a difficult one to uncover. Staff at Plimoth
Plantation, which occupies several acres on the outskirts of the city of
Plymouth, just north of Cape Cod, have been in the vanguard of
researching the event. But a big obstacle remains: Everything historians
know today is based on two passages written by colonists.
Participants' accounts
In a letter to a friend, dated December 1621, Edward Winslow wrote: "Our
harvest being gotten in, our Governor sent four men on fowling, that so
we might after a more 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, among other Recreations, we exercised our Arms, many of the
Indians coming amongst us, and among the rest their greatest King
Massasoit, with some 90 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."
Twenty years later, William Bradford wrote a book that provides a few
more hints as to what might have been on that first Thanksgiving table.
But his book was stolen by British looters during the Revolutionary War
and therefore didn't have much influence on how Thanksgiving was
celebrated until it turned up many years later.
No one is certain whether the Wampanoag and the colonists regularly sat
together and shared their food, or if the three-day "thanksgiving" feast
Mr. Winslow recorded for posterity was a one-time event.
In the culture of the Wampanoag Indians, who inhabited the area around
Cape Cod, "thanksgiving" was an everyday activity.
"We as native people [traditionally] have thanksgivings as a daily,
ongoing thing," says Linda Coombs, associate director of the Wampanoag
program at Plimoth Plantation. "Every time anybody went hunting or
fishing or picked a plant, they would offer a prayer or acknowledgment."
But for the 52 colonists - who had experienced a year of disease,
hunger, and diminishing hopes - their bountiful harvest was cause for a
special celebration to give thanks.
"Neither the English people nor the native people in 1621 knew they were
having the first Thanksgiving," Ms. Coombs says. No one knew that the
details would interest coming generations.
"We're not sure why Massasoit and the 90 men ended up coming to
Plimoth," Coombs says. "There's an assumption that they were invited,
but nowhere in the passage does it say they were. And the idea that they
sat down and lived happily ever after is, well, untrue. The relationship
between the English and the Wampanoag was very complex."
Since they did not speak the same language, the extent to which the
colonists and Indians intermingled remains a mystery. But a few details
of that first Thanksgiving are certain, says Kathleen Curtin, food
historian at the Plimoth Plantation.
What was on the menu?
First, wild turkey was never mentioned in Winslow's account. It is
probable that the large amounts of "fowl" brought back by four hunters
were seasonal waterfowl such as duck or geese.
And if cranberries were served, they would have been used for their
tartness or color, not the sweet sauce or relish so common today. In
fact, it would be 50 more years before berries were boiled with sugar
and used as an accompaniment to meat.
Potatoes weren't part of the feast, either. Neither the sweet potato nor
the white potato was yet available to colonists.
The presence of pumpkin pie appears to be a myth, too. The group may
have eaten pumpkins and other squashes native to New England, but it is
unlikely that they had the ingredients for pie crust - butter and wheat
flour. Even if they had possessed butter and flour, the colonists hadn't
yet built an oven for baking.
"While we have been able to work out which modern dishes were not
available in 1621, just what was served is a tougher nut to crack," Ms.
Curtin says.
A couple of guesses can be made from other passages in Winslow's
correspondence about the general diet at the time: lobsters, mussels,
"sallet herbs," white and red grapes, black and red plums, and flint
corn.
"We have only one documented harvest feast that occurred between the
cultures," Curtin points out. "You don't hear about [any other] harvests
occurring between them. I assume that they did on some level, but it's
fascinating that it is just that one source, one sentence in one letter.
I wonder what else is there that someone just didn't jot down, and we
now know nothing about."
Until the early 1800s, Thanksgiving was considered to be a regional
holiday celebrated solemnly through fasting and quiet reflection.
But the 19th century had its own Martha Stewart, and it didn't take her
long to turn New England fasting into national feasting. Sarah Josepha
Hale, editor of the popular Godey's Lady's Book, stumbled upon Winslow's
passage and refused to let the historic day fade from the minds - or
tables - of Americans. This established trendsetter filled her magazine
with recipes and editorials about Thanksgiving.
It was also about this time - in 1854, to be exact - that Bradford's
history book of Plymouth Plantation resurfaced. The book increased
interest in the Pilgrims, and Mrs. Hale and others latched onto the fact
he mentioned that the colonists had killed wild turkeys during the
autumn.
In her magazine Hale wrote appealing articles about roasted turkeys,
savory stuffing, and pumpkin pies - all the foods that today's holiday
meals are likely to contain.
In the process, she created holiday "traditions" that share few
similarities with the original feast in 1621.
In 1858, Hale petitioned the president of the United States to declare
Thanksgiving a national holiday. She wrote: "Let this day, from this
time forth, as long as our Banner of Stars floats on the breeze, be the
grand Thanksgiving holiday of our nation, when the noise and tumult of
worldliness may be exchanged for the length of the laugh of happy
children, the glad greetings of family reunion, and the humble gratitude
of the Christian heart."
Five years later, Abraham Lincoln declared the last Thursday of November
"as a day of Thanksgiving and Praise to our beneficent Father who
dwelleth in the Heavens."
"[Hale's] depiction is wrong much more often than it's right," says
Nancy Brennan, president of Plimoth Plantation. "When this idea [of the
first Thanksgiving] caught on, it became a big, popular subject for
prints and books and paintings, all of which used whatever people could
gather about what the environment might have been like in 1621."
A native view
With little mention of the native population, the Wampanoag presence was
virtually relegated to the background, and the Pilgrim presence promoted
to the fore.
"The Wampanoag, we sometimes forget, were the majority population," Ms.
Brennan says. "In the 19th and 20th centuries, Thanksgiving was really a
tool for Americanization amid the great influx of immigration. It was
supposed to bind this diverse population into one union."
And so, over the centuries, that first Thanksgiving took on a shape of
mythological proportions. But how Americans celebrate today has little
to do with the convergence of two different populations across an
enormous cultural divide.
One man who would like people to know more about the actual Thanksgiving
is descended from the Wampanoag Indians who were such an essential part
of the first Thanksgiving celebration.
He steps out onto the porch in front of the Flume restaurant in Plymouth
and looks south. He lifts his face - marked by deep lines and dark,
heavy eyes - toward the open sky.
"I'm looking down the river here now, and the sun is bright, and the
tide is high, and the wind is blowing," he says. "My people would say
that is the spirit coming from the southwest, where the corn and beans
and squash come from. So we thank the spirit world - the fire, the moon,
the sky, the sun, the earth."
This man's name is Earl Mills Sr., and he is a retired high school
teacher and athletic director, the author of two books, and the owner of
the restaurant.
But Mr. Mills has another name and another job. As Flying Eagle, he is
the chief of the Mashpee Wampanoag tribe.
Still, he doesn't see himself as caught between two cultures. Instead,
he embraces both.
With equal relish, Mills will spend an afternoon walking in peaceful
silence, as his ancestors did, or an evening listening to the Boston
Symphony Orchestra.
He has always spent a lot of time thinking about the history of his
people, however, and the confusion about what really happened back in
1621.
"Things have changed so much," he says, choosing his words carefully.
"Even Thanksgiving has changed. Young people today don't remember what
it was like 50 or 100 years ago.
"Then, we picked our own cranberries from our own cranberry bogs, and we
caught rabbits and hung them outside our garage doors."
More recently, Coombs remembers that as she was growing up, her family
celebrated the holiday as most other Americans did. She went to her
grandfather's house, ate a turkey dinner, and watched the Macy's
Thanksgiving Day Parade on television. It wasn't until she was in
college that she learned her ancestors had observed Thanksgiving in a
different manner.
It is not just the eating, but the gathering together, preparing, and
thanking that matters, Mills says. "The role of food is important, but
it's gotten to the point where we become gluttons.... We could spend a
lot more time really thinking about what's going on in our world and
giving more thanks."
Whose history is it?
Mills points to the Plymouth Rock on the town's waterfront as an example
of differing views. The rock, first placed in 1774, is a monument to the
landing of the Mayflower, the ship that brought the Pilgrims to
Massachusetts 382 years ago.
"They're saying this is 'America's hometown,' that this is the rock [the
colonists] stepped on," Mills says. "I'm not against that, and it's nice
to have the rock, but don't try to make it true when it's really a
symbol, a mythology."
He's also disturbed by the fact that many people still don't know or
seem quick to dismiss the native side of the story.
"When I talk about Thanksgiving, [some people think] it happened too
long ago to matter," Mills says. "But when they talk about it, well,
it's history."
Still, the Wampanoag now have many more opportunities to contribute to
historical accounts of the region, offering insight into the traditions
of their people that have been passed down orally through the
generations.
"The two groups are working very well together in recent years," Mills
says. "And those connections turn into a circle. No matter how small,
how minor, they all contribute to the human beings that we are."
In late 1621, remembering the first Thanksgiving gathering, Edward
Winslow expressed a sentiment similar to Mills's call for sharing and
giving thanks:"And although it be not always so plentiful as it was at
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."
What historians do know about Thanksgiving
There are many myths surrounding Thanksgiving. Here are nine things we
do know are true about the holiday.
1. The first Thanksgiving was a harvest celebration in 1621 that lasted
for three days.
2. The feast most likely occurred between Sept. 21 and Nov. 11.
3. Approximately 90 Wampanoag Indians and 52 colonists - the latter
mostly women and children - participated.
4. The Wampanoag, led by Chief Massasoit, contributed at least five deer
to the feast.
5. Cranberry sauce, potatoes - white or sweet - and pies were not on the
menu.
6. The Pilgrims and Wampanoag communicated through Squanto, a member of
the Patuxet tribe, who knew English because he had associated with
earlier explorers.
7. Besides meals, the event included recreation and entertainment.
8. There are only two surviving descriptions of the first Thanksgiving.
One is in a letter by colonist Edward Winslow. He mentions some of the
food and activities. The second description was in a book written by
William Bradford 20 years afterward. His account was lost for almost 100
years.
9. Abraham Lincoln named Thanksgiving an annual holiday in 1863.
Full HTML version of this story which may include photos, graphics, and
related links
www.csmonitor.com | Copyright © 2002 The Christian Science Monitor. All
rights reserved.
www.csmonitor.com/2002/1127/p13s02-lign.html
The first Thanksgiving
In the fall of 1621, 90 Wampanoag Indians and 52 English colonists
gathered for a three-day harvest feast. How did Americans get from that
celebration to the Thanksgiving 'traditions' we observe today?
By Elizabeth Armstrong | Special to The Christian Science Monitor
PLYMOUTH, MASS. - Everyone knows about the Pilgrims and the Indians,
right? How the two groups gathered peacefully in Plymouth, Mass., to
feast on juicy turkeys and colorful pumpkin pies.
The trouble is, almost everything we've been taught about the first
Thanksgiving in 1621 is a myth. The holiday has two distinct histories -
the actual one and a romanticized portrayal.
Today, Americans celebrate a holiday based largely on the latter, whose
details of turkey and cranberry sauce decorating one long table stem
from the creative musings of a magazine editor in the mid-1800s.
The true history has been a difficult one to uncover. Staff at Plimoth
Plantation, which occupies several acres on the outskirts of the city of
Plymouth, just north of Cape Cod, have been in the vanguard of
researching the event. But a big obstacle remains: Everything historians
know today is based on two passages written by colonists.
Participants' accounts
In a letter to a friend, dated December 1621, Edward Winslow wrote: "Our
harvest being gotten in, our Governor sent four men on fowling, that so
we might after a more 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, among other Recreations, we exercised our Arms, many of the
Indians coming amongst us, and among the rest their greatest King
Massasoit, with some 90 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."
Twenty years later, William Bradford wrote a book that provides a few
more hints as to what might have been on that first Thanksgiving table.
But his book was stolen by British looters during the Revolutionary War
and therefore didn't have much influence on how Thanksgiving was
celebrated until it turned up many years later.
No one is certain whether the Wampanoag and the colonists regularly sat
together and shared their food, or if the three-day "thanksgiving" feast
Mr. Winslow recorded for posterity was a one-time event.
In the culture of the Wampanoag Indians, who inhabited the area around
Cape Cod, "thanksgiving" was an everyday activity.
"We as native people [traditionally] have thanksgivings as a daily,
ongoing thing," says Linda Coombs, associate director of the Wampanoag
program at Plimoth Plantation. "Every time anybody went hunting or
fishing or picked a plant, they would offer a prayer or acknowledgment."
But for the 52 colonists - who had experienced a year of disease,
hunger, and diminishing hopes - their bountiful harvest was cause for a
special celebration to give thanks.
"Neither the English people nor the native people in 1621 knew they were
having the first Thanksgiving," Ms. Coombs says. No one knew that the
details would interest coming generations.
"We're not sure why Massasoit and the 90 men ended up coming to
Plimoth," Coombs says. "There's an assumption that they were invited,
but nowhere in the passage does it say they were. And the idea that they
sat down and lived happily ever after is, well, untrue. The relationship
between the English and the Wampanoag was very complex."
Since they did not speak the same language, the extent to which the
colonists and Indians intermingled remains a mystery. But a few details
of that first Thanksgiving are certain, says Kathleen Curtin, food
historian at the Plimoth Plantation.
What was on the menu?
First, wild turkey was never mentioned in Winslow's account. It is
probable that the large amounts of "fowl" brought back by four hunters
were seasonal waterfowl such as duck or geese.
And if cranberries were served, they would have been used for their
tartness or color, not the sweet sauce or relish so common today. In
fact, it would be 50 more years before berries were boiled with sugar
and used as an accompaniment to meat.
Potatoes weren't part of the feast, either. Neither the sweet potato nor
the white potato was yet available to colonists.
The presence of pumpkin pie appears to be a myth, too. The group may
have eaten pumpkins and other squashes native to New England, but it is
unlikely that they had the ingredients for pie crust - butter and wheat
flour. Even if they had possessed butter and flour, the colonists hadn't
yet built an oven for baking.
"While we have been able to work out which modern dishes were not
available in 1621, just what was served is a tougher nut to crack," Ms.
Curtin says.
A couple of guesses can be made from other passages in Winslow's
correspondence about the general diet at the time: lobsters, mussels,
"sallet herbs," white and red grapes, black and red plums, and flint
corn.
"We have only one documented harvest feast that occurred between the
cultures," Curtin points out. "You don't hear about [any other] harvests
occurring between them. I assume that they did on some level, but it's
fascinating that it is just that one source, one sentence in one letter.
I wonder what else is there that someone just didn't jot down, and we
now know nothing about."
Until the early 1800s, Thanksgiving was considered to be a regional
holiday celebrated solemnly through fasting and quiet reflection.
But the 19th century had its own Martha Stewart, and it didn't take her
long to turn New England fasting into national feasting. Sarah Josepha
Hale, editor of the popular Godey's Lady's Book, stumbled upon Winslow's
passage and refused to let the historic day fade from the minds - or
tables - of Americans. This established trendsetter filled her magazine
with recipes and editorials about Thanksgiving.
It was also about this time - in 1854, to be exact - that Bradford's
history book of Plymouth Plantation resurfaced. The book increased
interest in the Pilgrims, and Mrs. Hale and others latched onto the fact
he mentioned that the colonists had killed wild turkeys during the
autumn.
In her magazine Hale wrote appealing articles about roasted turkeys,
savory stuffing, and pumpkin pies - all the foods that today's holiday
meals are likely to contain.
In the process, she created holiday "traditions" that share few
similarities with the original feast in 1621.
In 1858, Hale petitioned the president of the United States to declare
Thanksgiving a national holiday. She wrote: "Let this day, from this
time forth, as long as our Banner of Stars floats on the breeze, be the
grand Thanksgiving holiday of our nation, when the noise and tumult of
worldliness may be exchanged for the length of the laugh of happy
children, the glad greetings of family reunion, and the humble gratitude
of the Christian heart."
Five years later, Abraham Lincoln declared the last Thursday of November
"as a day of Thanksgiving and Praise to our beneficent Father who
dwelleth in the Heavens."
"[Hale's] depiction is wrong much more often than it's right," says
Nancy Brennan, president of Plimoth Plantation. "When this idea [of the
first Thanksgiving] caught on, it became a big, popular subject for
prints and books and paintings, all of which used whatever people could
gather about what the environment might have been like in 1621."
A native view
With little mention of the native population, the Wampanoag presence was
virtually relegated to the background, and the Pilgrim presence promoted
to the fore.
"The Wampanoag, we sometimes forget, were the majority population," Ms.
Brennan says. "In the 19th and 20th centuries, Thanksgiving was really a
tool for Americanization amid the great influx of immigration. It was
supposed to bind this diverse population into one union."
And so, over the centuries, that first Thanksgiving took on a shape of
mythological proportions. But how Americans celebrate today has little
to do with the convergence of two different populations across an
enormous cultural divide.
One man who would like people to know more about the actual Thanksgiving
is descended from the Wampanoag Indians who were such an essential part
of the first Thanksgiving celebration.
He steps out onto the porch in front of the Flume restaurant in Plymouth
and looks south. He lifts his face - marked by deep lines and dark,
heavy eyes - toward the open sky.
"I'm looking down the river here now, and the sun is bright, and the
tide is high, and the wind is blowing," he says. "My people would say
that is the spirit coming from the southwest, where the corn and beans
and squash come from. So we thank the spirit world - the fire, the moon,
the sky, the sun, the earth."
This man's name is Earl Mills Sr., and he is a retired high school
teacher and athletic director, the author of two books, and the owner of
the restaurant.
But Mr. Mills has another name and another job. As Flying Eagle, he is
the chief of the Mashpee Wampanoag tribe.
Still, he doesn't see himself as caught between two cultures. Instead,
he embraces both.
With equal relish, Mills will spend an afternoon walking in peaceful
silence, as his ancestors did, or an evening listening to the Boston
Symphony Orchestra.
He has always spent a lot of time thinking about the history of his
people, however, and the confusion about what really happened back in
1621.
"Things have changed so much," he says, choosing his words carefully.
"Even Thanksgiving has changed. Young people today don't remember what
it was like 50 or 100 years ago.
"Then, we picked our own cranberries from our own cranberry bogs, and we
caught rabbits and hung them outside our garage doors."
More recently, Coombs remembers that as she was growing up, her family
celebrated the holiday as most other Americans did. She went to her
grandfather's house, ate a turkey dinner, and watched the Macy's
Thanksgiving Day Parade on television. It wasn't until she was in
college that she learned her ancestors had observed Thanksgiving in a
different manner.
It is not just the eating, but the gathering together, preparing, and
thanking that matters, Mills says. "The role of food is important, but
it's gotten to the point where we become gluttons.... We could spend a
lot more time really thinking about what's going on in our world and
giving more thanks."
Whose history is it?
Mills points to the Plymouth Rock on the town's waterfront as an example
of differing views. The rock, first placed in 1774, is a monument to the
landing of the Mayflower, the ship that brought the Pilgrims to
Massachusetts 382 years ago.
"They're saying this is 'America's hometown,' that this is the rock [the
colonists] stepped on," Mills says. "I'm not against that, and it's nice
to have the rock, but don't try to make it true when it's really a
symbol, a mythology."
He's also disturbed by the fact that many people still don't know or
seem quick to dismiss the native side of the story.
"When I talk about Thanksgiving, [some people think] it happened too
long ago to matter," Mills says. "But when they talk about it, well,
it's history."
Still, the Wampanoag now have many more opportunities to contribute to
historical accounts of the region, offering insight into the traditions
of their people that have been passed down orally through the
generations.
"The two groups are working very well together in recent years," Mills
says. "And those connections turn into a circle. No matter how small,
how minor, they all contribute to the human beings that we are."
In late 1621, remembering the first Thanksgiving gathering, Edward
Winslow expressed a sentiment similar to Mills's call for sharing and
giving thanks:"And although it be not always so plentiful as it was at
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."
What historians do know about Thanksgiving
There are many myths surrounding Thanksgiving. Here are nine things we
do know are true about the holiday.
1. The first Thanksgiving was a harvest celebration in 1621 that lasted
for three days.
2. The feast most likely occurred between Sept. 21 and Nov. 11.
3. Approximately 90 Wampanoag Indians and 52 colonists - the latter
mostly women and children - participated.
4. The Wampanoag, led by Chief Massasoit, contributed at least five deer
to the feast.
5. Cranberry sauce, potatoes - white or sweet - and pies were not on the
menu.
6. The Pilgrims and Wampanoag communicated through Squanto, a member of
the Patuxet tribe, who knew English because he had associated with
earlier explorers.
7. Besides meals, the event included recreation and entertainment.
8. There are only two surviving descriptions of the first Thanksgiving.
One is in a letter by colonist Edward Winslow. He mentions some of the
food and activities. The second description was in a book written by
William Bradford 20 years afterward. His account was lost for almost 100
years.
9. Abraham Lincoln named Thanksgiving an annual holiday in 1863.
Full HTML version of this story which may include photos, graphics, and
related links
www.csmonitor.com | Copyright © 2002 The Christian Science Monitor. All
rights reserved.