Generosity: the forgotten legacy of Thanksgiving

Gratitude begets generosity

Image from from an Antique Children’s Encyclopedia

                                       “If we can tell our history accurately, 
                      I think people can become a little more compassionate.” 
                                            -- Steven Peters/SmokeSygnals

Caveat: I’m neither a cook nor a historian.

In spite of those obviously missing qualities, I have been reflecting on one of our fondest origin stories which revolves around the generosity of neighbors who helped in a time of need. The story we like to tell, especially in our classrooms, is about the early hardships of the Pilgrims to the new land of Plymouth Colony where the Native American Wampanoags gave the new arrivals food and information about which foods could be grown in the new land.

To celebrate their first successful harvest, the tale continues that both Pilgrims and indigenous peoples came together for a feast of turkey, sweet potatoes, and cranberries. And, it was such a success, we’ve continued the tradition to this day.

Thanks to Catherine Lamb, who calls herself a kitchen scientist and dog lover, we now know there are a few discrepancies in this tale, the most minor being the food. There was no turkey (unless that’s what they meant by wildfowl), sweet potatoes, or cranberries. Lamb describes the first menu as (most likely) a “feast of freshly killed deer, assorted wildfowl, a bounty of cod and bass, and flint, a native variety of corn harvested by the Native Americans, which was eaten as corn bread and porridge.” Since there were no mills for flour nor supplies of refined sugar, the banquet table would not have been laden with gravy, biscuits, pies, or sweet cranberry sauce.

In addition to the food, however, there’s also the issue with the continuity of the celebration. Again depending on Lamb, we find that, while a few of the early presidents declared days of thanksgiving, “Abraham Lincoln was the first to bring back Thanksgiving in 1863, when a woman named Sarah Josepha Hale (author of the nursery rhyme “Mary had a little lamb) convinced him that a nationally celebrated Thanksgiving holiday would unite the country in the aftermath of the Civil War.

From then on Thanksgiving was celebrated annually, typically on the last Thursday in November, but the date wasn’t made official until decreed by Congress in 1941.

Wondering why it might have become an official holiday in 1941, the year when WWII began, led me to history.com where another wrinkle entered the picture. President Lincoln “scheduled Thanksgiving for the final Thursday in November, and it was celebrated on that day every year until 1939, when Franklin D. Roosevelt moved the holiday up a week in an attempt to spur retail sales during the Great Depression. Roosevelt’s plan, known derisively as Franksgiving, was met with passionate opposition, and in 1941 the president reluctantly signed a bill making Thanksgiving the fourth Thursday in November.”

So our feasting holiday which began in generosity and thanksgiving has been tossed about at the whims of war and economic fluctuations. There is also a major player who seems to have dropped out of the picture … the Wampanoags. What happened to them? 

You probably have an idea where this part of the story is going.

In the early 1600s, there were about 40,000 people living along the eastern shores of what would come to be known as the United States. Sixty-seven villages of the Wampanoag Tribe, also known as the People of the First Light, had inhabited present-day Massachusetts and Eastern Rhode Island for more than 12,000 years. (We immigrants have been here, at most, for 400 years.)

In the years prior to the Mayflower’s arrival in 1621, some European ships came and went. Some took slaves with them; one or more left behind disease that devastated indigenous populations in what is called the Great Dying from 1616 - 1619 when 70-80% of their people died.

In spite of their wariness from past encounters with Europeans, the Wampanoag Tribe, encouraged by Tisquantum known as Squanto who had been captured and sold into the European slave trade but later returned as a translator, reached out and helped the starving Pilgrims, teaching them what to plant.

Edward Winslow, who held a prominent position in the colony wrote an account of that first thanksgiving:

“Our corn did prove well, and God be praised, we had a good increase of Indian corn, and our barley indifferent good, but our peas not worth gathering, for we feared they were too late sown. They came up very well, and blossomed, but the sun parched them in the blossom. Our 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 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.”

Three hundred and fifty years later, the Wampanoag leader Frank James gave a speech with these grave words:

“This action by (Chief) Massasoit was perhaps our biggest mistake. We, the Wampanoag, welcomed you, the white man, with open arms, little knowing that it was the beginning of the end.”

Mayflower 400: In 2020-2021, a group of people from four nations: Wampanoag, UK, USA, and Netherlands came together, committed to unpacking the untold stories and highlighting the experiences of different ethnic groups both in history and today as well as studying both the religious and commercial reasons for the Pilgrims’ journey.

This video presents an overview of the history and the project.

The Takeaway: If it had not been for the generosity of the Wampanoag Tribe, we might not be celebrating this holiday. If it had not been for a woman whispering in President Lincoln’s ear, there might be no Thanksgiving. And, as much as we think of this holiday as a time for gratitude, it’s good to remember that the true spark was generosity.

May we be generous to our neighbors in need and be so grateful for all the good in our lives that generosity flows easily to all living beings.

Source:

What Food Was *Actually* Served at the First Thanksgiving https://food52.com/blog/20949-what-was-actually-served-at-the-first-thanksgiving

We appreciate your “hearts”, and if you like this post, please feel free to share it.

Also … if you want to see more gratitude mojo posts, click here: