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Speaking Out:
The First Thanksgiving
OP-ED By Rynn
Berry
It’s that time of
year again when hundreds of millions of turkeys will be killed to tickle
the American palate. An ethical vegetarian could not fail to ask the question:
How did a turkey come to be at the center of the ritual of Thanksgiving?
It certainly doesn’t belong there, for the story of the Pilgrims’ First
Thanksgiving is thought by many to have been largely a myth. It was only
in 1863 that Abraham Lincoln declared Thanksgiving to be a national holiday.
Pilgrims didn’t become a part of the official national celebration until
the 1890s.
To be sure, the Plymouth
Pilgrims were given a friendly reception by the Indians: Massassoit, the
chief of the Wapanoags, Samoset the chief of the Pemaquids and the ever-faithful
Squanto. Indeed, they overlooked the Pilgrims’ depredations and taught
them how to farm and fish and eventually how to set up trading posts.
In November 1621, (the
year after the landing at Plymouth) the Pilgrims celebrated jointly with
the Indians a harvest festival — a festival that the Indians had been celebrating
for hundreds, perhaps thousands of years. The concept would also have been
familiar to the Pilgrims from the “Harvest Home” celebrations in their native
England. Much of the food at this festival was supplied by the Indians,
and consisted of native American foodstuffs, including a sort of corn meal
mush along with nuts and fruits such as gooseberries, strawberries, plums,
cherries, cranberries and a groundnut groundnut known as the bogg bean.
Popcorn and popcorn balls made by the Indians with maple syrup were served
as a sweet. There was also a variety of breadstuffs, such as corn pone and
ashcakes, made by the Indians. It is possible that pumpkins and squash were
served. The legend that the celebrants feasted on turkey with all the trimmings
is a myth. In his Food Encyclopedia, James Trager tells us that it’s likely
that turkey wasn’t even served. It’s true that some deer meat, and game
birds were offered, but it’s likely they were side dishes and not the main
focus of the meal. So the first Pilgrim/Indian Thanksgiving in 1621 was
not only almost certainly turkeyless, chances are it was mainly vegetarian.
We should be celebrating Thanksgiving not as an orgy of turkey slaughter,
but as a vegetarian or mostly vegetarian harvest festival.
Rynn Berry is the
historical adviser to the North American Vegetarian Society. He is the
author of Famous Vegetarians and Their Favorite Recipes.
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