Apple Pie, turkeys, stuffing, pumpkin pie, and ham, do these sound familiar? Thanksgiving is on its way, the autumn leaves mixed with the smell of fresh apple pie in the oven can put a smile on anyone’s face. But where did this homey holiday come from? Why do we celebrate it?
In the town of Plymouth, Massachusetts, there was a tribe of people called the Wampanoag people who had come in contact with the English Settlers who had arrived on the Mayflower several months earlier. The Native Americans had then negotiated a treaty with these English Settlers. This peace treaty had led to English Settlers learning how to plant crops, where to fish and hunt, and plenty of other skills that grew critical to the English Settlers new colonies.
To celebrate the first harvest of this new peace treaty, the Governor of Massachusetts, William Bradford and the other settlers had invited the Wampanoag people to a feast in November, 1621, which is now known as Thanksgiving. It was custom in England, the Pilgrims, who were the English Settlers, had attended the feast as well as 90 Wampanoag tribesmen had attended “the first Thanksgiving”.
The food eaten at the first thanksgiving and the food we now eat have their similarities but are different. The Wampanoag tribe had brought freshly killed deer, corn bread, porridge, bass, cod, assorted wildflower, and flint. The Pilgrim had eaten venison, fowl, which is geese or duck, corn, nuts like walnuts, cashews, and beechnuts, and shellfish. Though everyone was at the same table, everyone had their own traditional food that they had indulged in.
You may be wondering “Where are the pies, turkey, ham and stuffing in that list?”, well they were not brought to the table until the late 18th century by the British Immigrants. They had brought a variety of fruit filled pastries sometimes filled with meats and fish, but the majority was fruits like apple and pumpkin. Whipped cream, the sweet whipped light frosting we put on sundaes, pies, or just eat it straight from the can. Whipped cream had not been put on pies or even used in general until the rise of Thanksgiving in the 1800’s. Turkeys were not introduced to thanksgiving until the 1800’s and by the 1850’s, Thanksgiving as well as turkeys and more of our traditional foods we eat today had also risen to popularity. Turkeys had been bigger and fatter than geese or ducks so that is why many scholars and historians believe that they were hunted. Stuffing had been put on the Thanksgiving table in 1836 as the holiday began to gain popularity. During the first thanksgiving days, the Pilgrims had stuffed birds with herbs and onions.
Thanksgiving is a wonderful time to give thanks for all that you are grateful for. It’s a time to spend time with your family and friends and make memories.
