by Marvin J. Ramírez
Marvin J. Ramírez
In anticipation of Thanksgiving Day, and in contrast to my previous commentaries on the subject, which were usually an act of explaining immigrants about the day of giving thanks amid a turkey dinner in the United States.
Of course, many of them, who work so hard to feed their families here and back to in their countries, don’t have the time to go to the library and find out every holiday that is celebrated in their host country, and just repeat what they see. Well, just like most people who are natural of the U.S. Many celebrate Cinco de Mayo thinking that it is Mexican Independence Day.
According to one side of the story, the one taught in U.S. history, the Pilgrims are said to have had the “first” thanksgiving feast in the New World in the autumm of 1621.
And as Genealogy Forum explains, the inhabitants of the North American continent were no different than other cultures.
They worshipped the Earth Mother who provided the great herds for hunting, the aquatic creatures for fishing, and for bountiful crops of corn and other provisions. While the ceremonies differed from tribe to tribe across the continent, depending on their geographical location and their circumstances, a common thread weaves all mankind together. There is a common belief that some superior being(s) exist that are responsible for satisfying the need for sustenance and the perpetuation of the cyclical order of nature.
Prior to the Pilgrims’ arrival in 1620, the Native Americans in the eastern shore of the North American continent had encountered other English and Spanish explorers. European visitors inadvertently introduced smallpox to the Native American population in 1617. The subsequent plague decimated the population, with nearly half of the Native Americans succumbing to the virulent disease.
One hundred and two Pilgrim emigrants departed England on the Mayflower. During the voyage, one person was lost overboard and a child was born on board. Of the 102 people who arrived at Plymouth Rock in December of 1620, only 50 survived the first winter in the New World. Cold and starvation killed many. Without the generosity of the Indians who provided food, many more would probably have died. The Pilgrims had much for which to be thankful.
According to the first newspaper published in America, Publick Occurrences, published on 25 September 1690 by Benjamin Harris, a group of Christianized Indians selected the date and place for the celebration of the fi rst thanksgiving with the Pilgrims.
In the Fall of 1621, the thanksgiving commemoration took place. We know that it lasted for three days and included a period of fasting, prayer, religious services, and finally a shared meal. There were 90 Indians involved in this affair. While this celebration was never repeated, it has become the model for what most U.S. citizens celebrate today as Thanksgiving. This “first thanksgiving” marked a tranquil moment in time before tensions escalated and tempers flared.
The Pilgrims viewed the Indians as savages requiring the salvation of Christianity.
They failed to recognize the deeply spiritual nature of the Native American people and their bond with the gods of nature. The Pilgrims aggressively tried to recruit the “savages.” Those who accepted Christianity found themselves ostracized by their tribes and accepted by the Pilgrims as mere disciples. The Pilgrims’ tampering with the beliefs of the Indians greatly offended the tribal leaders.
The Pilgrims were not adept at farming in their new homeland. Whereas the Indians were experts at growing maize, the Pilgrims were slow to learn. Their harvests of 1621 and 1622 were meager, and the Indians offered to exchange some of their harvest for beads and other materials. The Pilgrims eagerly responded but, in time, demonstrated bad faith by failing to fulfi ll their side of the bargain. The Indian leaders, proud men of their word, were insulted by the rude way in which they were treated. Tempers fl ared and, in time, open hostilities broke out.
So, remember on this next Thanksgiving Day, what this date is all about and how it came to be.
(Information taken from GFS Morgan on the Genealogy Forum.)
