David Tanguay

Let Us Remember the Word "Welcome" with Thanksgiving



Posted: Thursday, November 02, 2006

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To children the Thanksgiving holiday simply means Christmas is drawing nearer. Christmas of course means more to children than Thanksgiving. Although taught to us in elementary school, few remember the details of the first Thanksgiving Day in our country. This article offers a refresher course, of this historical event. The role the American Indian played should be recognized and remembered by all Americans.

On Sept. 6, 1620 the pilgrims set sail for the new world on a ship called the Mayflower. They sailed from Plymouth, England and aboard were 110 pilgrims. The long trip was cold and damp and took 65 days. Since there was a danger of fire on the wooden ship, the food had to be eaten cold. Many passengers became sick and one died by the time land was sighted on Nov.10th.
                 
Although they had first sighted land off Cape Cod they did not settle until they arrived at Plymouth, which had been named by Captain John Smith in 1614. It was there that the pilgrims decide to settle. Plymouth offered an excellent harbor. A large brook offered a resource for fish. The Pilgrims biggest concern was attack by the local Native American Indians. However, the Plutuxets were a peaceful group and did not prove to be a threat.

The first winter was devastating to the Pilgrims. The cold snow and sleet were exceptionally heavy, interfering with the workers as they tried to construct their settlement. March brought warmer weather and the health of the Pilgrims improved, but many had died during the long winter. Of the 110 Pilgrims and crew who left England, less then 50 survived the first winter.

On March 16, 1621, what was to become an important event took place, an Indian brave walked into the Plymouth settlement. The Pilgrims were frightened until the Indian called out “Welcome" (in English!).
                                                  
                                                      Pilgrims greeted by Samoset
His name was Samoset and he was an Abnaki Indian. He had learned English from the captains of fishing boats that sailed off the coast. After staying the night, Samoset left the next day. He soon returned with another Indian named Squanto who spoke better English than Samoset. Squanto told the Pilgrims of his voyages across the ocean and his visits to England and Spain. It was in England where he learned English.

Squanto’s importance to the Pilgrims was enormous and it can be said that they would not have survived without his help. It was Squanto who taught the Pilgrims how to tap the maple trees for sap. He taught them which plants were poisonous and which had medicinal powers. He taught them how to plant the Indian corn by heaping the earth into low mounds with several seeds and fish in each mound. The decaying fish fertilized the corn. He also taught them to plant other crops with the corn.
                                                  Squanto teaching the Pilgrims how to survive
The harvest in October was very successful the Pilgrims found themselves with enough food to put away for the winter. There was corn, fruits and vegetables, fish to be packed in salt, and meat to be cured over smoky fires.

The Pilgrims had much to celebrate, they had built homes in the wilderness, they had raised enough crops to keep them alive during the long coming winter, and they were at peace with their Indian neighbors. They had beaten the odds and it was time to celebrate.

The Pilgrim governor William Bradford proclaimed a day of thanksgiving to be shared by all colonists and the neighboring Native Americans, they invited Squanto and other Indians to join them in their celebration. Their chief, Massasoit, and 90 braves came to the celebration, which lasted for 3 days. They played games, ran races, marched, and played drums. The Indians demonstrated their skills with the bow and arrow and the Pilgrims demonstrated their musket skills. Exactly when the festival took place is uncertain, but it is believed the celebration took place in mid-October.

The following year the Pilgrims harvest was not as bountiful, as they were still unused to growing corn. During the year, they had also shared their stored food with newcomers and the Pilgrims ran short of food.

The 3rd year brought a spring and summer that was hot and dry with the crops dying in the fields. The Governor ordered a day of fasting and prayer, and it was soon thereafter that the rain came. To celebrate - November 29 of that year was proclaimed a day of thanksgiving. This date is believed to be the real true beginning of the present Thanksgiving Day.

The custom of an annual celebrated thanksgiving, held after the harvest, continued through the years. During the American Revolution (late 1770’s) a day of national thanksgiving was suggested by the Continental Congress.

In 1817, New York State had adopted Thanksgiving Day as an annual custom. By the middle 19th century, many other states also celebrated Thanksgiving Day. In 1863, President Abraham Lincoln appointed a national day of thanksgiving. Since then, each president has issued a Thanksgiving Day proclamation, usually designating the fourth Thursday of each November as the holiday.

"As we open, our homes this holiday season to family and friends with an extended hand of friendship, and a warm greeting. Let us remember the hand extended to us with the greeting of “welcome" in our own native tongue. For this was a foreign land to us, the generosity, kindness, and knowledge, extended to us by the inhabitants of the land we have come to call and recognize as our home, “America". We should give thanks to the real and true Native Americans; from where the helping hand of friendship in a time of grave need, gave us all a new beginning. The dreams of our ancestors were fulfilled only because of the warm welcome and guiding hand, we received from the American Indian".
 
                                                                                             
    The definition of thanksgiving is, " a formal expression of thanks to God"

 "Every Thanksgiving Day we thank God for our many blessings, we include as our blessings, a great deal of our material prosperity. However is it God who has been good to us? On the other hand are we the ones who were good to ourselves? Along with the thanks - we often forget the giving".

"Of the three proclamation links I have inserted at he end of this article, President Lincoln adds to his Thanksgiving Day proclamation, a separate proclamation appointing a National fast day. In this proclamation he tries to express his belief that the civil war was God's judgment for our sins, and speaks of how we have been led astray from our God. He also stresses the fact we should ask forgiveness of ou sins".
“I could end this article by adding a justifiable reason for the way we mistreated the American Indian. However, I believe every American should read how a true American native views thanksgiving. Perhaps we could enjoy our thanksgiving meal with a more gratified and true blessing if we would recognize our flaws, the mistakes we made and move forward with the healing wisdom bestowed by this Native American Indian." Please read this article, by Jacqueline Keeler Thanksgiving: A Native American View

                                                                                       
William Bradford’s Thanksgiving Day proclamation

George Washington’s Thanksgiving Day proclamation

Abraham Lincoln’s Thanksgiving Day proclamation



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