The historical “first” Thanksgiving was celebrated in 1621 by 52 colonists, mostly Pilgrim women and children, and 90 Wampanoag “Indians,” who reportedly brought four deer to the feast. Little beyond these four deer was written down in accounts of the feast (of which only two scant references remain), but for sure turkey and cranberry and pumpkin pie were not part of the festivities occurring somewhere in the months of September to November. Potatoes were also definitely not consumed since they weren’t even cultivated in the colonies yet.
The Wampanoag comprised the majority population, and records indicate that they celebrated “thanksgiving” every day. I think they probably had it right–we owe our thanks 24/7, to use modern parlance, though we certainly have lost our reverance for what a miracle it is to provide a bounty of food to hundreds of millions every day.
One Sara Josepha Hale more than 100 years later discovered writings about the Pilgrims’ thanksgiving and petitioned the president to declare it a national day of celebration. (President George Washington had proclaimed a one-day celebration on Nov. 26, 1789.) Five years later, Abraham Lincoln did just that, declaring the last Thursday in November a “Thanksgiving” holiday.
In truly modern American appreciation of all things bountiful, President Franklin Roosevelt later moved the holiday back to the fourth Thursday to provide more of a Christmas shopping cushion for retailers, transforming a day of thanks into the beginning of rabid consumerism. Eat, drink, be thankful–but don’t leave home without your credit card. The Wampanoags seem to have had a better idea of the whole event.
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