They dressed in earth-tones, not black and white. They didn't wear buckles on their shoes. The "first Thanksgiving" in 1621 — actually a three-day harvest festival held sometime between September 21 and November 11 — was the only one they ever celebrated. Wild turkey, venison, and stewed pumpkin were probably on the menu, but there was no ham, no mashed potatoes, no corn on the cob, or cranberry sauce to be had. And they never, ever called themselves "Pilgrims." Read more...
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You might want to correct the myth that the first Thanksgiving was the Pilgrims in Mass. The first Thanksgiving in English America took place along the James River at present-day Berkley Plantation in Charles City County.
The year was 1619, twelve years after the establishment of Jamestown, when a group of thirty-eight settlers aboard the ship Margaret arrived after having made a ten-week journey across the Atlantic. Upon their landing, they knelt and prayed on the rich Tidewater soil, with their Captain John Woodlief proclaiming:
“Wee ordaine that the day of our ships arrivall at the place assigned for plantacion in the land of Virginia shall be yearly and perpetually keept holy as a day of thanksgiving to Almighty God.”
As historically recorded, this event was the first English Thanksgiving in the New World
This is true. The reason that the Plymouth Thanksgiving was made the official location of the first thanksgiving was because the North won the Civil War. Politics as usual.
Praying like good little pilgrims was not the first Thanksgiving except to white people. Here is the true ‘thanksgiving’.
—story follows—-
AMERICAN INDIAN MOVEMENT GRAND GOVERNING COUNCIL
MINISTRY FOR INFORMATION
P.O. Box 13521
Minneapolis MN 55414
612/ 721-3914 . fax 612/ 721-7826
Email: aimggc@worldnet.att.net
Web Address: http://www.aimovement.org
November 23, 2005
ORIGINS OF THANKSGIVING
The year was 1637…..700 men, women and children of the Pequot Tribe, gathered for their “Annual Green Corn Dance” in the area that is now known as Groton, Conn.
While they were gathered in this place of meeting, they were surrounded and attacked by mercernaries of the English and Dutch. The Indians were ordered from the building and as they came forth, they were shot down. The rest were burned alive in the building.
The next day, the Governor of the Massachusetts Bay Colony declared : “A day of Thanksgiving, thanking God that they had eliminated over 700 men, women and children.
For the next 100 years, every “Thanksgiving Day” ordained by a Governor or President was to honor that victory, thanking God that the battle had been won.
Newell based his research on studies of Holland Documents and the 13 volume Colonial Documentary History, both thick sets of letters and reports from colonial officials to their superiors and the king in England, and the private papers of Sir William Johnson, British Indian agent for the New York colony for 30 years in the mid-1600s.
“My research is authentic because it is documentary,” Newell said. “You can’t get anything more accurate than that because it is first hand. It is not hearsay.”
Newell said the next 100 Thanksgivings commemorated the killing of the Indians at what is now Groton, Connecticut [home of a nuclear submarine base] rather than a celebration with them. He said the image of Indians and Pilgrims sitting around a large table to celebrate Thanksgiving Day was “fictitious” although Indians did share food with the first settlers.
Source: Documents of Holland, 13 Volume Colonial Documentary. History, letters and reports from colonial officials to their superiors and the King in England and the private papers of Sir William Johnson, Britsh Indian agent for the New York colony for 30 years.
Researched by William B. Newell (Penobscot Tribe) Former Chairman of the University of Connecticut Anthropology Department.
Hello there! .! Happy Thanksgiving!!
Thanksgiving is one of my favorite holidays, and each yr I like to get into the mood-extend the holiday, as it were-by reading “Thanksgiving novels.” Of course, most of these stories are mostly about friends and family, about coming together to heal old hurts and showing thanks for the gift of love. . “”
Have You Been Currently Better Off Today Than You Were 10 Years Ago?