Thanksgiving!


Inuit giving thanks for a successful hunt.
This green stone carving depicts a parka-clad man kneeling in prayer. 
He carries a Caribou thigh over his left shoulder and an open Bible in his right.

Thanksgiving is probably as old as food gathering, itself. 

Throughout the world, most societies have participated in a variety of harvest rituals that express gratitude for the bounty. Learn more about harvest festivals around the world here.

The third Thursday of November is the USA's Thanksgiving, a national food holiday.  The first Thanksgiving on what is now United States soil was held by the Rio Grande river near El Paso, Texas in what was then New Mexico. 

The Juan de Onate 1598 expedition that established a permanent colony in New Mexico and forged the route that became known as El Camino Real, paused to give thanks when they reached the great river.

The first Thanksgiving included a church mass, a play, a ceremony formally claiming the new lands for the King of Spain and a feast.  The exact menu is not known, but consisted of much fish and fowl.  The date was April 30, 1598.  The people of El Paso celebrate their history with recreations and a festival.

The best publicized historic Thanksgiving is the one that occured at Plymouth Plantation in Massachusetts, 24 years later.  Among the many misconceptions and myths perpetuated about this event are:

Indians did not wear warbonnets but blankets and deerskin clothing. 

Squanto and Samoset spoke excellent English.  Other Indians would have spoken in the Algonkian language.

They were known for their formal speaking style. 

The northeast woodland Indians did not have tipis or horses.

The following food was most likely part of the feast: corn soup, succotash, white fish, red meat, turkey, partridge, duck, berries (including whole cranberries), maple sugar candies, corn starch candy, watercress, beans and squash.

Here is some information on how Native Americans expressed thanks.

Here's a Seneca Indian thanksgiving prayer.

Our Thanksgiving Gallery

How the Massachusetts Thanksgiving was cooked. 

Note the hand cranked spit roasting two ducks.  Other dishes include: from upper left:  stewed pumpkins, rye and Indian bread, cranberry sauce.  All prepared over a hearthstone fire. 

This photo is by Constantine Manos and published in Time/Life's American Cooking: New England, 1970.

Possibly the most famous Thanksgiving scene, painted by Norman Rockwell.

What would Thanksgiving be without pies?  These two seem to be preparing apple and  pumpkin pies.  By the way, you've heard the expression "As American as apple pie?"  Well, the apple originates in the Eastern Hemisphere.  So the saying should go "as American as pumpkin pie."

Happy Turkey Day
and find time to give thanks everyday.

Home