History, tradition and the Thanksgiving holiday

For many years, historians have reminded us that the Thanksgiving holiday we were taught about as children was a romanticized and perhaps sanitized version of historical events. We have been told that many foods considered essential to our contemporary holiday observation were most likely not at the original feast. We are also nagged by the knowledge that the friendly relationships with our indigenous neighbors commonly depicted in the story of the first Thanksgiving were followed by three centuries of war, displacement, and a racial resentment that is still with us today.

I had not known until recently that most of our understanding of that first celebration is based on a single eye-witness account of the event sent in a private letter to a friend. One informal account forms the basis of our national holiday? One potentially propagandized tale has spun off an annual feast, parades, football games, congested travel, and the Butterball Hotline? One single letter?

Our first-hand account was written by Edward Winslow, one of the English Pilgrims who arrived aboard the Mayflower at Plymouth, Massachusetts, in 1620. He was a significant figure in the early Plymouth Colony and eventually served as the colony’s governor and as a diplomat, maintaining relations with the Native American tribes in the region.

Dated Dec. 11, 1621, and addressed only to a “Loving and old Friend,” the letter later appeared in a pamphlet known as “Mourt’s Relation,” which was a journal of the initial pilgrim experience attributed to writings by both Winslow and Governor William Bradford. The degree to which the pamphlet also served as recruitment propaganda is the subject of continued speculation, but it’s our only eye-witness account and wins credibility by default.

Winslow’s letter begins with a general description of the progress at the settlement, including the number of buildings constructed and acreage planted. Winslow then writes, “Our harvest being gotten in, our governor sent four men on fowling, that so we might after a more special manner rejoice together.” In doing so, he acknowledges that they are preparing for a party and that four men had gone out to shoot birds, but Turkey was not explicitly mentioned.

It was a common English tradition to serve fowl on special occasions, and in a later writing, Bradford alludes to the availability of wild turkey in the area surrounding the Plymouth plantation. Whether the bird was turkey, duck, goose, or quale, the hunters were reportedly successful. Winslow noted, “They four in one day killed as much fowl, as with a little help beside, served the company almost a week.”


Winslow then writes, “We exercised our arms,” which is understood to refer to the shooting of weapons, and follows with, “many of the Indians coming amongst us, and among the rest their greatest King Massasoit, with some ninety men, whom for three days we entertained and feasted.” Were the Wampanoag already present when the pilgrims were shooting, or were they summoned by the shots? That point is also argued, but the party was clearly on, and the “Indians” contributed to the menu by dispatching hunters of their own who soon returned with results. Winslow added, “They went out and killed five deer, which they brought to the plantation and bestowed on our governor, and upon the captain, and others.”

The letter also describes the relationship with local inhabitants in a somewhat positive way, saying, “We have found the Indians very faithful in their covenant of peace with us; very loving and ready to pleasure us: we often go to them, and they come to us.” That sounds nice enough, but Winslow also writes, “It hath pleased God so to possess the Indians with a fear of us, and love unto us,” which sounds more like the description of an ex-spouse than a foundation for a healthy relationship.

Cynicism aside, there is a portion of the account where we begin to see the essence of the holiday take shape in the form of gratitude or, given the difficulties of establishing a settlement, relief. “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.”

As for the food, the Winslow letter makes no reference to sweet potatoes. They had yet to be cultivated in that region. No reference is made to bread or stuffing because the pilgrims had no flour. They didn’t have pies because they had no sugar, and they were blessed to live before the invention of Pyrex, so there were no mysterious casseroles to be politely declined.

As you shop for the holiday (locally, I hope), enjoy the freedom of that perspective. Don’t be constrained by tradition unless you want to be. If the Norman Rockwell vision of Thanksgiving defines the season for you, then by all means, enjoy. If not, feast as you like and be thankful that here and for now, we have relative peace. Winslow concluded, “ I make no question, but men might live as contented here as in any part of the world.” Let’s focus on being the beneficiaries of that promise while we still can.