NEAT-O
A BRIEF HISTORY OF THANKSGIVING

Thanksgiving is like many other holidays that have survived the test of time: it is surrounded by many myths and is celebrated much differently today than it was originally. Thanksgiving is closely related to European “harvest festivals,” events celebrated since pagan times to celebrate successful harvests. Traditionally, harvest festivals were held in September, when the harvest moon—the full moon nearest the autumnal equinox—was visible. These days were marked by singing, dancing, praying, and the decorating of churches with baskets of food. The traditions of the harvest festivals were brought to the New World by explorers and pilgrims in the 16th and 17th centuries, and were frequently shared with the native population.
        Feasts commemorating a successful harvest or acquisition of food were celebrated in North America as early as 1541, when Francisco Vásquez de Coronado and the Teya Indians tucked in at the Palo Duro Canyon in what is now Texas. Thanks was also given by Pilgrims who landed in the New World, likely in the form of a fervent prayer for surviving the treacherous, three month journey over the Atlantic.
        The “real” first Thanksgiving feast that most of us are familiar with occurred in 1621, when the pilgrims at Plymouth Rock held a three day feast to celebrate a bountiful harvest. The Plymouth pilgrims had arrived on the Mayflower the prior winter, but conditions were so harsh that half of them perished. The Wampanoag Indians, who likely introduced the pilgrims to local foods and showed them how to capture native animals (including the wild turkey), were invited to the feast. With them came their chief Massasoit, who went out with his men and killed five deer for the feast table.
        We know these small details about the first Thanksgiving feast because two colonists wrote brief descriptions of it in letters. However, they offer few clues as to what was actually eaten, or if the feast was a one time event or a regular association between colonists and natives.
        While the Wampanoag Indians gave thanks or prayer on a daily basis, the pilgrims felt their bountiful circumstances required a special celebration. For this reason, the first Thanksgiving feasts were celebrated irregularly; different colonies set aside different days for giving thanks, and no uniform date was set until 1777, when George Washington declared a thanksgiving for his defeat of the British at Saratoga. In 1789, Congress asked Washington to declare a national day of Thanksgiving; he did so and set the date at November 26. Washington declared another day in 1795, and Adams after him declared thanksgivings in 1798 and 1799. Madison also declared a day of thanksgiving in 1815 to celebrate the end of the War of 1812.
        Up until 1863, Thanksgiving was only sporadically declared a national holiday. Enter Sarah Josepha Hale*, an American personality grossly undervalued in our history for her contributions, yet integral to this autumnal celebration. For years, Hale, as editor of the widely read Godey’s Lady’s Book, had petitioned local and state government officials for recognition of a national Thanksgiving holiday. In Hale’s opinion, there were “too few holidays.” The celebration (continued pg. 4, col. 1)