Almost every culture in the world has held celebrations of thanks
for a plentiful harvest. The American Thanksgiving holiday began as a
feast of thanksgiving in the early days of the American colonies
almost four hundred years ago.
In 1620, a boat filled with more than one hundred people sailed
across the Atlantic Ocean to settle in the New World. This religious
group had begun to question the beliefs of the Church of England and
they wanted to separate from it. The Pilgrims settled in what is now
the state of Massachusetts. Their first winter in the New World was
difficult. They had arrived too late to grow many crops, and without
fresh food, half the colony died from disease. The following spring
the Iroquois Indians taught them how to grow corn (maize), a new food
for the colonists. They showed them other crops to grow in the
unfamiliar soil and how to hunt and fish.
In the autumn of 1621, bountiful crops of corn, barley, beans and
pumpkins were harvested. The colonists had much to be thankful for, so
a feast was planned. They invited the local Indian chief and 90
Indians. The Indians brought deer to roast with the turkeys and other
wild game offered by the colonists. The colonists had learned how to
cook cranberries and different kinds of corn and squash dishes from
the Indians. To this first Thanksgiving, the Indians had even brought
popcorn.
In following years, many of the original colonists celebrated the
autumn harvest with a feast of thanks. After the United States became
an independent country, Congress recommended one yearly day of
thanksgiving for the whole nation to celebrate. George Washington
suggested the date November 26 as Thanksgiving Day. Then in 1863, at
the end of a long and bloody civil war, Abraham Lincoln asked all
Americans to set aside the last Thursday in November as a day of
thanksgiving*.
The President's Yearly Proclamation
Thanksgiving falls on the fourth Thursday of November, a different
date every year. The President must proclaim that date as the official
celebration. Here is an excerpt from President George Bush's
Thanksgiving proclamation of 1990:
"The historic observance of a day of thanksgiving at
Plymouth, in 1621, was one of many occasions on which our
ancestors paused to acknowledge their dependence on the mercy
and favor of Divine Providence. Today, on this Thanksgiving
Day, likewise observed during a season of celebration and
harvest, we have added cause for rejoicing: the seeds of
democratic thought sown on these shores continue to take root
around the world...
"The great freedom and prosperity with which we have been
blessed is cause for rejoicing - and it is equally a
responsibility... Our "errand in the wilderness," begun more
than 350 years ago, is not yet complete. Abroad, we are
working toward a new partnership of nations. At home, we seek
lasting solutions to the problems facing our nation and pray
for a society "with liberty and justice for all," the
alleviation of want, and the restoration of hope to all our
people....
"Now, therefore, I, George Bush, president of the United
States of America, do hereby call upon the American people to
observe Thursday, November 22, 1990, as a National Day of
Thanksgiving and to gather together in homes and places of
worship on that day of thanks to affirm by their prayers and
their gratitude the many blessings God has bestowed upon
us." |
Thanksgiving is a time for tradition and sharing. Even if they live
far away, family members gather for a reunion at the house of an older
relative. All give thanks together for the good things that they have.
In this spirit of sharing, civic groups and charitable organizations
offer a traditional meal to those in need, particularly the homeless.
On most tables throughout the United States, foods eaten at the first
thanksgiving have become traditional.
*1939 President Franklin D. Roosevelt set it one week earlier.
He wanted to help business by lengthening the shopping period before
christmas. Congress ruled that after 1941 the 4th Thursday in November
would be a federal holiday proclaimed by the President each
year.
Symbols of Thanksgiving
Turkey, corn (or maize), pumpkins and cranberry sauce are
symbols which represent the first Thanksgiving. Now all of these
symbols are drawn on holiday decorations and greeting cards.
The use of corn meant the survival of the colonies. "Indian
corn" as a table or door decoration represents the harvest and
the fall season.
Sweet-sour cranberry sauce, or cranberry jelly, was on the
first Thanksgiving table and is still served today. The
cranberry is a small, sour berry. It grows in bogs, or muddy
areas, in Massachusetts and other New England states. The
Indians used the fruit to treat infections. They used the juice
to dye their rugs and blankets. They taught the colonists how to
cook the berries with sweetener and water to make a sauce. The
Indians called it "ibimi" which means "bitter berry." When the
colonists saw it, they named it "crane-berry" because the
flowers of the berry bent the stalk over, and it resembled the
long-necked bird called a crane. The berries are still grown in
New England. Very few people know, however, that before the
berries are put in bags to be sent to the rest of the country,
each individual berry must bounce at least four inches high to
make sure they are not too ripe! |
In 1988, a Thanksgiving ceremony of a different kind took
place at the Cathedral of St. John the Divine. More than four
thousand people gathered on Thanksgiving night. Among them were
Native Americans representing tribes from all over the country
and descendants of people whose ancestors had migrated to the
New World.
The ceremony was a public acknowledgment of the Indians' role
in the first Thanksgiving 350 years ago. Until recently most
schoolchildren believed that the Pilgrims cooked the entire
Thanksgiving feast, and offered it to the Indians. In fact, the
feast was planned to thank the Indians for teaching them how to
cook those foods. Without the Indians, the first settlers would
not have survived. |
"We celebrate Thanksgiving along with the rest of America,
maybe in different ways and for different reasons. Despite
everything that's happened to us since we fed the Pilgrims, we
still have our language, our culture, our distinct social
system. Even in a nuclear age, we still have a tribal people."
-Wilma Mankiller, prinicipal chief of the
Cherokee
nation | |