The First Thanksgiving

  • Published
  • By Senior Airman Alyssa Smith
  • 14th Operations Group Air Traffic Controller
COLUMBUS AIR FORCE BASE, Miss. --  Imagine leaving your home country in search for a life free of religious persecution. It sounds like a noble move. It's a decision that many people - to this day choose. Sometimes, those people head to the United States. One of the first notable groups to make that journey is the 102 - now called - Pilgrims of 1620. They left Plymouth, England for the "New World" where they were promised religious freedom, land, and prosperity. What they were not prepared for was the brutal winter that awaited them.

After a little over three months aboard the Mayflower, the Pilgrims established a village in Massachusetts they named Plymouth. That December brought a vicious winter that, along with disease, killed half of the original travelers.

In March of 1621, the Pilgrim settlers were visited by an Abenaki Indian who spoke to them in English. Several days later, he brought another Native American named Squanto, who led an interesting life of being kidnapped by Englishmen, sold into slavery, escaping, and returning to the "New World". Squanto took a liking to the Pilgrims and taught them what they needed to know in order to survive. He pointed out poisonous plants, and taught them how to fish and cultivate corn. Additionally, he helped them build a relationship with a local tribe called the Wampanoag.

In the fall of 1621, the Pilgrims had their first corn harvest. Overjoyed with the results, Pilgrim Governor William Bradford ordered a feast and invited their Native American friends to join them. What started as a feast turned into a three-day celebration.

Thanksgiving has been celebrated every year since. First, each colony celebrated in their own way. In the midst of the Civil War, President Abraham Lincoln proclaimed it a National Holiday. In 1941, President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed a bill stating that Thanksgiving will be celebrated on the fourth Thursday every November.

The first Thanksgiving feast might not have consisted of the turkey, stuffing and mashed potatoes we have grown accustomed to. There might have been a language barrier between some of the attendees. And it was probably much colder than we've grown familiar with this time of year in Mississippi. But despite the differences in our celebrations, we share the same qualities to be thankful for. We all have friendship, freedom and life.

This Thanksgiving, take a moment to think about the Native Americans and the Pilgrims. Consider how Squanto took care of the Pilgrims and showed them how to survive, despite how he was treated by other Englishmen who had come over to the "New World". It is doubtful that our country would be the way it is now without the relationship forged between the Pilgrims and the Native Americans. And that, among all the other gifts we have in common, is something to be thankful for.