The First Thanksgiving
By Julia L . Ernst ¹
This year marks the 400th anniversary of an occasion many in the United States now commemorate as the first Thanksgiving in 1621 . I traveled to Plymouth , Mass ., in September to participate in the programming celebrating the first Thanksgiving , as well as the postponed observances of last year ’ s quadricentennial of the Mayflower Compact , the Pilgrims ’ arrival in Cape Cod , and the establishment of Plymouth Colony in 1620 .
Only two firsthand accounts of the original Thanksgiving festivities exist . One is in the manuscript written by the longstanding governor of Plymouth Colony , William Bradford , who led the settlement for over 30 years :
They began now to gather in the small harvest they had , and to fit up their houses and dwellings against winter , being all well recovered in health and strength and had all things in good plenty . For as some were thus employed in affairs abroad , others were exercised in fishing , about cod and bass and other fish , of which they took good store , of which every family had their portion . All the summer there was no want ; and now began to come in store of fowl , as winter approached , of which this place did abound when they came first ( but afterward decreased by degrees ). And besides waterfowl there was great store of wild turkeys , of which they took many , besides venison , etc . Besides , they had about a peck of meal a week to a person , or now since harvest , Indian corn to that proportion . Which made many afterwards write so largely of their plenty here to their friends in England , which were not feigned but true reports . 2
Another prominent member of the community , Edward Winslow , purportedly penned the only other report of the first Thanksgiving :
[ O ] ur 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 fruits 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 amongst other Recreations , we exercised our Arms , many of the Indians coming amongst us , and amongst the
Pilgrims Progress gathering at the Mayflower Society House .
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 on 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 . 3
This bountiful banquet shared among the Pilgrim and Native American neighbors in 1621 fostered a growing relationship among two very diverse groups of people – immigrants fleeing from persecution and hardship in their European homeland , and members of the Wampanoag nation who had revered this region as their homeland for over 12,000 years . Among the settlers and the indigenous inhabitants , food and fellowship of the first Thanksgiving helped cultivate friendship and bonds among people from divergent backgrounds with distinct customs , cultures , languages , religious beliefs , and worldviews . During that timeframe and for several decades afterwards , they interacted frequently , learned from each
The Pilgrim Progress Procession near Plymouth Harbor .
The Plimoth Patuxet Museum ' s reproduction of a Wampanoag home .
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