On Thanksgiving
I love Thanksgiving. I love the food although, in fairness, it’s usually just ok. But it’s so rich in personal and cultural association that it hardly matters what it tastes like.
I also love that Thanksgiving isn’t about consumerism or about candy. It’s about gratitude and giving thanks. That sometimes can be hidden away in all the festivities and eating, but at it’s root, it’s really a lovely sentiment. And an important practice.
I love a 4-day weekend, which seems to be evolving into a 5-day weekend for schools anyhow.
Lastly, I like that Thanksgiving is American. It has religious association and overtones, but is mostly a secular holiday. According to lore (see below) it was something the Pilgrims initiated and they welcomed the indigenous neighbors to celebrate. We feast on New World foods — squashes and potatoes and cranberries and, of course, turkey. It’s our own country’s creation, and a contribution to our own and the world. My social media is often full of thanksgiving celebrations from friends around the world. It’s a good thing.
The real history of Thanksgiving is, not surprisingly, pretty different that that legendary — and propagandistic — holiday as received.
Among the pilgrims, there seems to have been a party after the first harvest. They did, indeed, owe a lot to the Indians who taught them to plant corn and fertilize it. The seed for peas they brought over did poorly. Barley seems to have done ok. They were preparing for winter and lading in fish and fowl — lots of turkey in the area. Nearby Indians came by and brought deer. Much is made of this — although the record is not very rich the first Thanksgiving.
Public thanksgivings were held in American states and George Washington proclaimed one in 1789 for November 26th. The tradition was maintained in many states — especially in New England — but not on a single day. Until Lincoln proclaimed an annual thanksgiving for the 3rd Thursday in November. He did this during the civil war and, apparently, in response to the lobbying of Sarah Josepha Hale, who was consciously attempting to forge a new unified concept and culture of nationhood.
But the mythic origins were pretty rough. About half of the Mayflower passengers died in the first year, especially in the first winter which was rough indeed. Bad weather and cold. Living aboard the ship, or in very poor housing ashore. “young girls proved to have the strongest bodies of all: the first winter, 72% of the women died, 50% of the men died, 36% of the boys died, but only two girls (18%) died.” (source)
The first contact is sketchy. There are “savages” on the horizon, with a dog, running away. Footprints in the sandy dunes of Cape Cod. Abandoned grain stores, or maybe they’re graves. Whichever, the English steal the food and valuables and tell themselves they’ll pay later.
According to Samoset, who they eventually meet and befriend, the area where they settle — Plymouth — was recently devastated by plague. This explains why there is no settlement even though there are cultivated fields. The plague preceded the settlers, easing their way. “He told us the place where we now live is called Patuxet, and that about four years ago all the inhabitants died of an extraordinary plague, and there is neither man, woman, nor child remaining, as indeed we have found none, so as there is none to hinder our possession, or to lay claim unto it.”
The neighboring village is hostile to the settlers. But why? Well it turns out the last Englishman to come by had kidnapped 20 or so residents before running off to sell them into slavery in Spain.
The pilgrims are lucky for that tragedy because one of the kidnapped villagers eventually returned was the famous Squanto. From Spain, he traveled to England and worked and eventually traveled back to his home village, which he found uninhabited due to the plague. But he became an important friend to settlers, helping communicate and forge agreements and alliances with nearby Indians.
The settlers had more bad years and difficulty. They came to the new world woefully unprepared and under-resourced. Those who survived should indeed have been grateful for it because it was just dumb luck and the help of others who made it possible.
ENDS//
