2008 Woodie Awards
The first Thanksgiving
Ashley Moreland/Online Reporter
Issue date: 11/16/07 Section: Arts and Entertainment
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This Thursday most of you will be gathering with friends and family watching the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, or perhaps laying on the couch with a full stomach watching football.
That's not how the first Thanksgiving was celebrated. Growing up you were all taught about how the Pilgrims and the Indians came together and had a big feast together to celebrate the harvest and their friendship. It's hard to tell what the first Thanksgiving was actually like; the histories vary. Perhaps we will never know the true accounts of that day.
What we do know is that the Pilgrims landed in the Wampanoag Indians' territory. It is very likely, how nearly all the accounts go, that the Native Americans helped the Pilgrims survive the first couple of years. After that, everything seems to vary.
One account sounds like what everyone was taught growing up. The Pilgrims used to celebrate thanksgiving feasts in England in November as religious obligation. Because of their good fortune, they decided to have a thanksgiving celebration in the New World.
The leaders of the Pilgrims, Captain Miles Standish invited the leader of the Wampanoags, Massasoit, and Squanto, Samoset and their families to join in their celebration.
Native American families were large and around 90 of them showed up to the celebration. The Pilgrims were not expecting that many people and were unprepared, so the Indians went back and brought more food. The feast lasted three days and was not only a celebration of the Pilgrims' fortunes, but also one of the friendship between the two very different cultures.
The other account comes from an article by Benjamin Harris in the first newspaper published in America on Sept. 25, 1690. According to him, the first thanksgiving took place in the fall of 1621 and that it was actually Christianized Indians who set the date and place and provided the food.
Senior recreation administration major Jackie Vaiden, who's brother is one-fourth Cherokee, says that her belief of the first thanksgiving leans more to the second account. The Pilgrims were having a hard time, so the Indians came and provided food for them and helped them through the winter.
That's not how the first Thanksgiving was celebrated. Growing up you were all taught about how the Pilgrims and the Indians came together and had a big feast together to celebrate the harvest and their friendship. It's hard to tell what the first Thanksgiving was actually like; the histories vary. Perhaps we will never know the true accounts of that day.
What we do know is that the Pilgrims landed in the Wampanoag Indians' territory. It is very likely, how nearly all the accounts go, that the Native Americans helped the Pilgrims survive the first couple of years. After that, everything seems to vary.
One account sounds like what everyone was taught growing up. The Pilgrims used to celebrate thanksgiving feasts in England in November as religious obligation. Because of their good fortune, they decided to have a thanksgiving celebration in the New World.
The leaders of the Pilgrims, Captain Miles Standish invited the leader of the Wampanoags, Massasoit, and Squanto, Samoset and their families to join in their celebration.
Native American families were large and around 90 of them showed up to the celebration. The Pilgrims were not expecting that many people and were unprepared, so the Indians went back and brought more food. The feast lasted three days and was not only a celebration of the Pilgrims' fortunes, but also one of the friendship between the two very different cultures.
The other account comes from an article by Benjamin Harris in the first newspaper published in America on Sept. 25, 1690. According to him, the first thanksgiving took place in the fall of 1621 and that it was actually Christianized Indians who set the date and place and provided the food.
Senior recreation administration major Jackie Vaiden, who's brother is one-fourth Cherokee, says that her belief of the first thanksgiving leans more to the second account. The Pilgrims were having a hard time, so the Indians came and provided food for them and helped them through the winter.
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