First Thanksgiving

If I had been a Pilgrim child
Among the fields and forests wild
Where deer and turkey used to roam,
A cabin would have been my home
With fireplace and earthen floor
And bearskins hanging at the door.

I would have gathered berries bright
For candles fragrantly alight,
And dug for clams and picked the corn
And laid the table smooth and worn.

Or hunted nuts hard-shelled and good
And helped in any way I could,
With time to laugh and play and run
When Indian children came for fun.

And on the first Thanksgiving Day
I would have met with friends to pray
And thank the Lord for all his care
In keeping us together there.

Margaret Hillert

The First Thanksgiving 

In the year 1621, one year after the Pilgrims arrived here, they decided to have a thanksgiving feast to celebrate their
good fortune. 

They had observed thanksgiving feasts in November as religious obligations in England for many years before coming to the New World. 
The Algonkian tribes held six thanksgiving festivals during the year. 
When the Indians sat down to the "First Thanksgiving" with the Pilgrims, it was really the fifth thanksgiving of the year for them! 

Captain Miles Standish, the leader of the Pilgrims, invited Squanto, Samoset,and Massasoit,and they brought ninety of their immediate families to join them for a celebration. ThePilgrims were not prepared to feed a gathering of people that large for three days. Thus it happened that the Indians supplied the majority of the food: Five deer, many wild turkeys, fish, beans, squash, corn soup, corn bread, and berries. 
Captain Standish sat at one end of a long table and the Clan Chief Massasoit sat at the other end. For the first time the Wampanoag people were sitting at a table to eat instead of on mats or furs spread on the ground. 

So this Thanksgiving day, let us all join with our
families and friends.
Let us all join hands and bow our heads in prayer,
Thanking God for this great country we live in,
and all that He has given us...
I wish you all a Happy and Blessed
Thanksgiving Day!
©*Ziplo*

"Now Thank Thee All Our God"

  Tabby and I hope you will
          come back real soon....

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November, 2001