It is that time of year again; the Thanksgiving season is here. The autumn weather with tasty food and giving thanks with loved ones – name a better way to celebrate this fantastic holiday. November 1621 marks the first Thanksgiving among the Pilgrims and the Wampanoag people and traditions have changed a lot since then. With that being said, it’s important to take into account the rich, yet controversial history of Thanksgiving.
Back in 1621, the first Thanksgiving was a harvest feast in the Plymouth colony shared between the Pilgrims and the Wampanoag due to the first successful corn harvest the Pilgrims had. In 1623, the Pilgrims had their next celebration in honor of the closing of a drought that made it difficult to harvest. In 1827, Sarah Jospeha, a magazine editor and writer, advocated and launched a campaign in an effort to create Thanksgiving as a national holiday and, because of this, she was nicknamed the “Mother of Thanksgiving.” Finally, Abraham Lincoln regarded her efforts and dedicated the last Thursday of November to celebrating Thanksgiving in 1863. Some question if the feast in 1621 really was the first Thanksgiving. Before the colonists, Native Americans celebrated the fall harvest with a feast. Additionally, in 1565, Pedro Menéndez de Avilé, who was a Spanish explorer, hosted a dinner with the Timucua tribe.
Thanksgiving casts a friendly, happy light on the relationship between the Pilgrims and the Wampanoag people, which doesn’t acknowledge the centuries of hostilities between the Native Americans and the European settlers. Consequently, as of 1970, people have been protesting this day by going to the top of Cole’s Hill that overlooks Plymouth Rock to honor the “National Day of Mourning.”
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