Thanksgiving falls as Native American Heritage Month nears its close and many ask is it (was it) a day of thanksgiving or a national day of mourning? For over 400 years there has been one celebration or another to mark the Pilgrim’s first year. Squanto of the Pawtuxet tribe taught them in that year of near starvation how to grow corn and squash and to celebrate; Massasoit, the chief of the Wampanoags (whose people had lived there over 1,000 years), and Bradford, leader of the Pilgrims, agreed to a meal and games in Plymouth in 1621. Some 500 gathered, and they ate for three days. Karen Wall noted: “It takes so long to get somewhere, that once you get there you stay a while.” Unfortunately, the peace was short-lived because between 1630- 1642 over 25,000 English arrived and long after Bradford and Massasoit were dead in 1675 a war broke out. Over half of the Native Americans were already dead from plague brought by the settlers. It wasn’t until 1863 in the middle of the Civil War that Lincoln marked the day specially and Roosevelt, during the Depression, secured it on our calendars as the third Thursday of November. If you want to know what the first thanksgiving-dinner-attendees ate, you can be almost sure it was not what Beatrix Potter suggested: “And instead of a nice dish of minnows--they had a roasted grasshopper with lady-bird sauce; which frogs considered a beautiful treat; but I think it must have been nasty.” Nor was it Dr. Seuss’ Whos dinner: “Then the Whos, young and old, would sit down to a feast. And they’d feast! And they’d Feast! And they’d FEAST! Feast! Feast! Feast! They would feast on Whopudding, and rare Who-roast-beast. Which was something the Grinch couldn’t stand in the least!” In fact, that first meal included lots of corn and squash. Bradford noted: “wild turkeys, ducks, and geese.” Massasoit brought five deer. Other highlights were lobster, seal, and swan as the English gathered at a table, and the Indians ate on the ground. And communities all over our country today celebrate in cultural ways, though the big bird (baked, roasted, deep-fried, or BBQed) is frequently at the center, with friends and family. Over the years, besides football and shopping, volunteering, food drives, meals for the hungry, and parades have inspired Americans and put into action just what ‘thanksgiving’ means. I found this anon limerick. Perhaps you will experience something like this on TDay at grannie’s house? Hope not. “A diner while dining at Crewe, found quite a large mouse in his stew, said the waiter ‘don’t shout, and wave it about. Or the rest will be wanting one, too.” Let’s not be greedy! Hahahahaha! Happy TDay.
