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.
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
Source: Celebrate! Holidays in the U.S.A., English Language Programs Division,
USIA, 1994
