1- The Pilgrims leave Plymouth Harbor in England on a ship called the Mayflower. They seek freedom in America to worship the way they want. The voyage is difficult, but only one of the 102 passengers dies.
    A Native American named Samoset walks into Plymouth colony and says "Welcome Englishmen." Samoset had learned some English from European fishermen. He introduces the Pilgrims to the Wampanoag leader Chief Massasoit. They also meet Squanto, who knows English too.

    2- November 1620–February 1621: The First Days of Plymouth
    The Mayflower's destination is northern Virginia, but the ship is thrown off course by a storm. On December 11th the Mayflower lands at Plymouth, New England,  and decides to stay.
    The Pilgrims' first winter is very difficult. There are not enough houses built when the snow begins to fall. Many Pilgrims stay aboard the Mayflower through the winter. The Pilgrims suffer from the bitter cold and lack of food, and only half survive.

    3- Mar. 1621 Pilgrims & Wampanoag Meet
    Chief Massasoit offers friendship and help to the Pilgrims. The two groups exchange gifts and sign the "Treaty of Friendship."

    4- Spring & Summer 1621 Building a Friendship
    In April, the Mayflower sails back to England. All of the Pilgrims choose to stay.
    The Wampanoag share their knowledge of hunting, fishing and farming. A Wampanoag named Hobbamock moves with his family to Plimoth.
    Massasoit and Squanto are captured by another native tribe, the Narraganset. The Pilgrims send 10 men to confront the Narraganset. Massasoit and Squanto are released.

    5- Oct. 1621 Harvest Feast, the first Thanksgiving Day:
    Plimoth Governor William Bradford declares a feast to give thanks to God for their first harvest. Massasoit and 90 other Wampanoag are invited to join the 52 Pilgrims for this three-day feast.
    The English serve wild turkeys, geese, and ducks. The Wampanoag bring five deer, along with lobsters, clams, oysters, and fish. The feast also includes cucumbers, carrots, cabbages, turnips, radishes, onions, beets, corn, and wild fruits.

    They celebrated it with a grand community feast wherein the friendly native Americans were also invited. It was kind of a harvest feast, the Pilgrims used to have in England.
    The recipes entail "corn" (wheat, by the Pilgrims usage of the word), Indian corn, barley, pumpkins and peas, "fowl" (specially "waterfowl"), deer, fish. And yes, of course the yummy wild turkey.
    However, the third year was real bad when the corns got damaged. Pilgrim Governor William Bradford ordered a day of fasting and prayer, and rain happened to follow soon. To celebrate - November 29th of that year was proclaimed a day of thanksgiving. This date is believed to be the real beginning of the present Thanksgiving Day.
    Though the Thanksgiving Day is presently celebrated on the fourth Thursday of every November. This date was set by President Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1939 (approved by Congress in 1941). Earlier it was the last Thursday in November as was designated by the former President Abraham Lincoln. But sometimes the last Thursday would turn out to be the fifth Thursday of the month. This falls too close to the Christmas, leaving the businesses even less than a month's time to cope up with the two big festivals. Hence the change.

    6- After 1621
    More English people arrive at Plimoth. They begin settling other areas nearby. Sometimes the English give the Native Americans beads or tools in exchange for the land. But the natives believe that the land belongs to everyone and cannot be owned.
    Today only a small number of Wampanoag still live in this area.

    The First Thanksgiving in 1621:

    "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, among 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 upon our governor, and upon the captain, and others. 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."
    Edward Winslow, Dec. 11, 1621, in A Journal of the Pilgrims at Plymouth (Mourt's Relation: A Relation or Journal of the English Plantation settled at Plymouth in New England, by certain English adventurers both merchants and others.) Dwight Heath, ed. New York: Corinth Books, 1963, p. 82

    What was actually in the first Menu:

    In 1621 the Plymouth colonists and the Wampanoag Indians shared an autumn harvest feast which is now known as the first Thanksgiving. While cooking methods and table etiquette have changed as the holiday has evolved, the meal is still consumed today with the same spirit of celebration and overindulgence.

    What foods topped the table at the first harvest feast? Historians aren't completely certain about the full bounty, but it's safe to say the pilgrims weren't gobbling up pumpkin pie or playing with their mashed potatoes. Following is a list of the foods that were available to the colonists at the time of the 1621 feast. However, the only two items that historians know for sure were on the menu are venison and wild fowl, which are mentioned in primary sources.

    Foods available at that time, used or not:
        - WILD FOWL: Wild Turkey, Goose, Duck, Crane, Swan, Partridge, Eagles
        - MEAT: Venison, Seal, Deer
        - SEAFOOD: Cod, Eel, Clams, Lobster
        - GRAIN: Wheat Flour, Indian Corn
        - VEGETABLES: Pumpkin, Peas, Beans, Onions, Lettuce, Radishes, Carrots
        - FRUIT: Plums, Grapes
        - NUTS: Walnuts, Chestnuts, Acorns
        - HERBS and SEASONINGS: Olive Oil, Liverwort, Leeks, Dried Currants, Parsnips

World Traditions on Thanksgiving:

    Native American Traditions of Giving Thanks:

    The American custom of giving thanks did not begin with the arrival of European colonists. Spirituality was (and is) a deeply sacred and personal part of Wampanoag life. Everything is sacred, and giving thanks for the Creator’s gifts is an integral part of daily life. From ancient times up to the present day, the Native people of North America have held ceremonies to give thanks for successful harvests and other good fortune. According to the oral information of tribal elders, giving thanks was the primary reason for ceremonies or feasts.

    Giving thanks was an important part of the celebrations, called Nickommo, which are still held by the Wampanoag. Give-away ceremonies, feasting, dancing and sports and games were common features of these occasions. Give-away ceremonies show gratefulness to the Creator who provides for the people and makes possible the blessings celebrated. The act of giving away material things shows respect and caring for others, while reminding the participants that material objects are only secondary to one’s spiritual life.

    Thankfulness was woven into every aspect of Wampanoag life. If an animal was hunted for food, special thanks were also given to the Creator and to the spirit of the animal. If a plant was harvested and used for any purpose, or a bird or a fish, if an anthill was disrupted, gratitude and acknowledgement were given for the little ones’ lives. To this day it is the same with most Native people - by Nancy Eldredge, Education Manager, Wampanoag Indian Program

    South America:
    In South America, many of the native Indian cultures contain expressions of gratitude and thanksgiving, and in modern Brazil a special public day of thanksgiving and prayer has been designated for the fourth Thursday of November every year since 1949.

    The Hebrews - The Bible:

    For over 3000 years Jewish families have been celebrating an autumnal harvest festival called Sukkoth. Sukkoth begins on the 15th day of the Hebrew month of Tishri, 5 days after Yom Kippur, usually in October or November, the most solemn day of the Jewish year.

    Sukkoth has derived its name from the huts (succots) that Moses and the Israelites lived in as they wandered the desert for 40 years before they reached the Promised Land. These huts were made of branches and were easy to assemble, take apart, and carry as the Israelites wandered through the desert. The festival coprises two main events - Hag ha Succot - the Feast of the Tabernacles and Hag ha Asif - the Feast of Ingathering.

    During this 8-day long festival the Jews build small huts of branches which recall the tabernacles of their ancestors. These huts are constructed as temporary shelters, as the branches are not driven into the ground and the roof is covered with foliage which is spaced to let the light in. Inside the huts are hung fruits and vegetables, including apples, grapes, corn, and pomegranates. On the first two nights of Sukkoth the families eat their meals in the huts under the evening sky. Jewish Feasts

    The Chastisement God with Much Meat in Numbers 11:

    Now the Lord is angry again... He sends them meat up to their nostrils, but also stroke them with a very severe plague:
    The rabble with them began to crave other food, and again the Israelites started wailing and said, "If only we had meat to eat! We remember the fish we ate in Egypt at no cost-also the cucumbers, melons, leeks, onions and garlic. But now we have lost our appetite; we never see anything but this manna!" (Num.11:4-6).
    ³¹   And there went forth a wind from the LORD, and brought quails from the sea, and let them fall by the camp, as it were a day's journey on this side, and as it were a day's journey on the other side, round about the camp, and as it were two cubits high upon the face of the earth.
    ³²   And the people stood up all that day, and all that night, and all the next day, and they gathered the quails: he that gathered least gathered ten homers: and they spread them all abroad for themselves round about the camp.
    ³³   And while the flesh was yet between their teeth, ere it was chewed, the wrath of the LORD was kindled against the people, and the LORD smote the people with a very great plague. (Num.11:31-33).

    The Greeks:

    The ancient Greeks worshipped Demeter as their goddess of all grains. Each autumn the festival of Thesmosphoria was held to honor the goddess.
    On the first day of the festival married women would build leafy shelters and furnish them with couches made with plants. On the second day they fasted. On the third day a feast was held and offerings to the goddess Demeter were made - gifts of seed corn, cakes, fruit, and pigs. It was hoped that Demeter's gratitude would grant them a good harvest.

    The Egyptians:

    The celebration of the spring-time harvest festival by the ancient Egyptians was dedicated to the honor of Min, their god of vegetation and fertility. Spring being the harvest season of the Egyptian's the festival was held during this season.
    The festival featured a parade in which the Pharaoh took part. After the parade a great feast was held. Music, dancing, and sports were also part of the celebration.

    The Romans:

    The Roman celebration of Cerelia, a harvest festival, was dedicated to the honor of Ceres. Ceres was their goddess of corn (from which the word cereal comes). It was also an autumnal festival held each year on October 4th. Offerings of the first fruits of the harvest and pigs were made to Ceres. The celebration included music, parades, games and sports and a thanksgiving feast.

    For Christians:

    The best Thanksgiving Day is every day in our daily bread of the  Eucharist which means exactly Thanksgiving. Pope John Paul II relates to it often as a celebration: The great miracle of time and space of Calvary and the Resurrection of Christ who comes into us alive in the Communion. Just as it sings Psalm 22:
    1- The first 22 verses make 13 prophecies fulfilled to the letter by Jesus at Calvary.
    2- From verse 23, the one crucified appears now alive giving witness and thanksgiving among the assembly. The Eucharist

    23- For I received from the Lord what I also handed on to you, that the Lord Jesus, on the night he was handed over, took bread,

    24- and, after he had given thanks, broke it and said, "This is my body that is for you. Do this in remembrance of me."

    25- In the same way also the cup, after supper, saying, "This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me." 1 Corinthians 11

    Yes, the best celebration of thanksgiving for a Christian is the Eucharist.
 

    This is a glimpse of the overwhelming unity in the spirit of the thanksgiving celebration in ancient and new cultures across the world. Prayer, parade, feast and the fervor are common to most of them, though the mode of celebration differs.

    Wish you a VERY HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

http://teacher.scholastic.com/thanksgiving/ 
http://www.theholidayspot.com/thanksgiving/
http://www.historychannel.com/exhibits/thanksgiving/
http://www.plimoth.org/learn/history/thanksgiving/thanksgiving.asp

Art Galleries of Religions and Christianity

The Jerome Bible Commentary, book by book
1,093 prophecies and types of the Old Testament fulfilled in Jesus and His Church

Other Web Sites of Dr. Dominguez
(over 300 in English and Spanish)

Home-Index   E- Mail to: J. Dominguez, M.D.   Last edition: September 11, 2004