We Gather Together

Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday and as the patriarch of Merry Mount I am blessed to cohost a joyous family gathering today.

As I ponder the holiday of Thanksgiving, I recollect many wonderful times with family and friends in years past (the Mannens, the Krcmarics, the Dorans, Mary Anne & Stu, Lee & Robert) but I also contemplate the story that accompanies the supposed first American Thanksgiving.

History

In 1863, Abraham Lincoln set the fourth Thursday of November, as a day to celebrate Thanksgiving, a national holiday honoring the early settlers and their harvest feast.

Fact and Fiction

The geographical area surrounding the site of the first Thanksgiving, now known as southeastern Massachusetts and eastern Rhode Island had been the home of the Wampanoag tribe of Native Americas for over 12,000 years, and had been visited by other European settlers before the arrival of the Mayflower. The indigenous people knew the land well and had fished, hunted, and harvested for thousands of generations.

From: https://indiancountrymedianetwork.com/news/the-wampanoag-side-of-the-first-thanksgiving-story/

While today Thanksgiving is one of our nation’s favorite holidays, it has a far different meaning for many Wampanoag, who now number between 4,000 and 5,000. “For the most part, Thanksgiving itself is a day of mourning for Native people, not just Wampanoag people.”

The Europeans who comprised the Plymouth Colony were a group of English Protestants who wanted to break away from the Church of England. These ‘separatists’ initially moved to Holland and after twelve years of financial problems, received funding from English merchants to sail across the Atlantic to settle in a ‘New World.' A ship carrying 101 men, women, and children spent 66 days traveling the Atlantic Ocean, intending to land where New York City is now located. Due to the windy conditions, the group had to cut their trip short and settle at what is now called Cape Cod.

Many myths surround the first Thanksgiving. Very little is actually known about the event because only two firsthand accounts of the feast were ever written.The first account is William Bradford’s journal titled, Of Plymouth Plantation, and the other is a publication written by Edward Winslow titled Mourt’s Relations.The written accounts state very little about the food prepared and served during the three day celebration, but the following sentence from Bradford suggests the spoils of the hunt: “And besides waterfowl there was great store of wild turkeys, of which they took many, besides venison…”, but guesses can be made based on the types of food written about in other documents circa 1621: such as mussels, lobsters, grapes, plums, corn and herbs.

Thanksgiving 2021

At the center of our Thanksgiving festivities at Merry Mount is Rett’s meal that traditionally includes turkey, mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, Brussels sprouts, cranberry sauce, deviled eggs, and an assortment of pies. But the must have is Rett’s cornbread dressing.

In conclusion, we embrace what Gladys Widdiss, tribal elder of the Wampanoag, has to say about the Wampanoag Tribe and Thanksgiving:

Every day (is) a day of thanksgiving to the Wampanoag . . .(We) give thanks to the dawn of the new day, at the end of the day, to the sun, to the moon, for rain for helping crops grow. . . There (is) always something to be thankful for. .. Giving thanks comes naturally for the Wampanoag.

There is much to be thankful for at Merry Mount and we wish all who read this blog today a very Happy Thanksgiving!

CPW