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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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