The First Thanksgiving: Dispelling an American Myth

 

The first Thanksgiving, celebrated by Pilgrim colonists and Wampanoag Indians in 1621, was very different from the traditional Thanksgiving observed every November in contemporary America. Having barely survived their first New England winter, the Pilgrims, upon late year harvesting, set aside a day of giving thanks. They could not have accomplished this without assistance from the native peoples. Contemporary Americans interested in duplicating this first Thanksgiving meal will be in for a surprise. Among the several missing ingredients was the dominant part of each Thanksgiving feast, the turkey.

 

The First Thanksgiving Feast in 1621

 

Writers and food historians differ as to what specific foods were served at that first Thanksgiving. Anthropology professor Anthony Aveni, for example, writes that Pilgrim men were sent out to kill wild turkeys and other fowl for the feast. British historian Godfrey Hodgson, however, denies that wild turkey was part of the feast, citing the archeological absence of any turkey bones found at the early settlement as well as the inability to shoot turkeys with the type of weaponry used by the Pilgrims.

 

Fowl killed for the meal included duck and geese. Original source records from that early period all state that when the Wampanoag Indians arrived, they brought five slain deer. Thus, the first Thanksgiving featured venison, although it was cooked as a stew that included beans, corn, and squash. Robert Ellis Cahill, commenting on this first feast in his analysis of the first American cookbook from New England, states that Indians also brought oysters.

 

Contemporary Thanksgiving Foods not Found at Plymouth in 1621

 

The Pilgrims served no pumpkin pies, although pumpkins were grown by the native peoples. In later years, pumpkin slices were fried and then baked as a pie. But in 1621, the Pilgrims had no ovens. Additionally, sweet potatoes did not exist in New England. This also was missing at the first Thanksgiving.

 

Cranberries grew in abundance and the native peoples cooked them as a sauce for fish and meats. Europeans, however, would not learn about this until the 1670s. Further, in 1621, the Pilgrims had no sugar, necessary in the preparation of a Thanksgiving cranberry sauce.

 

Corn bread, however, was most likely present at the first Thanksgiving. According to Cahill, corn bread as well as corn on the cob was introduced by the Wampanoags at this first festival. Indian bread was made from roasted corn ears, something that could even be taken on long journeys. Beans were also prominently featured. Beans contained protein and came in a number of varieties. In future generations, New England would become famous for baked beans, usually made with the kidney bean.

 

The First Thanksgiving was a Celebration of the Harvest

 

The Pilgrims learned much from their Indian neighbors. Native peoples showed the Europeans how to use fish such as lobster to fertilize crops. Unlike Europeans used to the crop-rotation methods dating back to the Middle Ages, Indians in New England grew most of their crops together so that one type of plant would enhance the growth of others. Pumpkins, for example, grew on the outer rim, thus protecting corn, squash, and peas from weeds.

 

Aveni writes that, “Every agrarian culture sets its own time of the year aside for the purpose of giving thanks, usually at the beginning of the end of the harvest season…” European traditions, well known by Pilgrims, celebrated the harvest period in a variety of ways, many tied to either old pagan festivals or Christian adaptations. Anthropologists cite such harvest practices as nearly universal and trace them back to ancient times.

 

Celebrating an Authentic Pilgrim Thanksgiving

 

Americans desiring to replicate the first Thanksgiving must be prepared to give up apple and pecan pies, mashed potatoes, stuffing, and the centerpiece roast – the turkey. Substituting venison, which is sold at grocers like Whole Foods or can be ordered on line, cooked as a stew with the appropriate vegetables and served in a common bowl would be a courageous start.

 

Not all foods, however, need to be so different. In 1621, the Indians heated their corn, creating pop corn. According to Cahill, the Pilgrims had butter, saved from their voyage. Although rancid, the Indians doused the buttery liquid over their pop corn, perhaps the first time in America that anyone snacked on hot buttered pop corn.

 

Sources:

 

Anthony Aveni, The Book of the Year: A Brief History of Our Seasonal Holidays (Oxford University Press, 2003)

Evelyn L. Beilenson, editor, Early American Cooking: Recipes from America’s Historic Sites (Peter Pauper Press, Inc.,1985)

Robert Ellis Cahill, Sugar and Spice and Everything: A History of Food and America’s First Cookbook (Old Saltbox, 1991)

Godfrey Hodgson, A Great and Godly Adventure: The Pilgrims and the Myth of the First Thanksgiving (Perseus Books, 2006)

Jack Weatherford, Indian Givers: How the Indians of the Americas Transformed the World (Fawcett Books, 1988)

First Published in Suite101 August 31, 2010 by M.Streich. Copyright