Jessica Crabtree

December 4, 1619: The “Berkeley Thanksgiving”

Yet another contender for the title of the original Thanksgiving. English settlers from Berkeley, England arriving in Virginia in 1619 (yes, that’s the year before the Pilgrim’s Plymouth landing) made this date a commemoration of gratitude for their safe arrival in the New World.

Unlike its famous counterpart, this Thanksgiving was clearly intended to be carried on in the future, as evidenced by the original proclamation in the Berkeley colony’s charter:

“Wee ordaine that the day of our ships arrival at the place assigned for plantacon in the land of Virginia shall be yearly and perpetually kept holy as a day of thanksgiving to Almighty God.”

This celebration is still honored today at the prestigious Berkeley Plantation.

Of course, this occasion is already predated by the little-known “St. Augustine Thanksgiving” shared in Florida by the Spanish and Native Americans – aptly enough, in the first permanent European settlement in the New World. (That one took place a whopping 56 years before its traditional 1621 counterpart.) But it is probably the earliest such celebration by English colonists in America.

See more: Countdown: 10 Things About Thanksgiving

Berkeley Plantation – Official Website

Berkeley House was built on the plantation later, in 1726. Photo from the National Park Service website, courtesy of the Virginia Department of Historic Resources.

Smithsonian Magazine: How the Potato Changed the World by Charles C. Mann

From the same author that brought us 1491: New Revelations About the Americas Before Columbus and numerous excellent essays and articles comes this very interesting piece on one of Native America’s most important staple crops.

This time of year, with Thanksgiving just around the corner, foodstuffs with deep connections to Native culture come to the forefront of popular culture: turkey, pumpkin, cranberry, just to name a few. There’s an aura of bounty and nostalgia around the foods that hallmark the holiday, as if the lingering memory of the land’s plenty as first experienced by early colonists has been passed down along with its ever-evolving traditions and legends.

Most people aren’t aware that their Thanksgiving turkey was first savored by the Aztecs, or their steaming bowl of mashed potatoes is an Andean specialty – or for that matter, that their European, African, or Asian ancestors would have been completely unaware of these dishes. Likewise, few know about the underlying circumstances that made the introduction of these foods possible for the rest of the world. But there’s a subconscious cultural connection that still links them – however vaguely – with their Native source.

Maybe it’s the grade school story of Squanto befriending the Pilgrims, teaching them how to plant maize – recounted again and again, and plastered all around us in countless cartoons and caricature – that gives the modern Thanksgiving its ostensible “Indian” savor, and makes it a uniquely American holiday. But maybe there is more to be gleaned from today’s Thanksgiving rituals about the intertwining of cultures that forms the roots of both the holiday and the country.

Food for Thought: Little-Known Facts About American Indian Innovations

National Geographic News – 16 Indian Innovations: From Popcorn to Parkas

“Celebrating an Indian Summer” by Richard B Williams The importance of the material contributions from Native cultures

Countdown: 10 Things About Thanksgiving A series about the foods, traditions, and legends of this distinctly “Native” holiday

Charles C Mann, “Native Intelligence” from the Smithsonian Magazine – a background study of the events and people of the mythical Thanksgiving

Cape Cod Times: Pilgrim guide Squanto has a mixed reputation

An interesting reminder of how a popular image doesn’t always reflect historical fact. Makes one wonder why we’ve deified Squanto as a part of our “national mythology.” Maybe exalting one Indian in the traditional Thanksgiving story sublimates the reality of what really transpired between colonists and Native Americans and English settlers – e.g., the Indians get due credit for helping out the early colonists, so now they can be shamelessly incorporated in a skewed national stereotype.

Smithsonian Magazine: Native Intelligence – Charles C. Mann

Indian Country Today: Thanksgiving symbolizes Native generosity and kindness

A great story about how the Oneida Nation is participating in community outreach and advocacy programs to fight hunger and homelessness.

“Integral to this agreement is a commitment by both parties to rediscover the origin and spirit of the Thanksgiving holiday, which dates back to Native people providing this country’s first newcomers with food and shelter,” says a statement issued by the coalition.

It seems this is a real-life extension of the values expressed in the Oneida’s symbolic display in the Thanksgiving Day parade. (For those of you who missed it, the float entitled “The True Spirit of Thanksgiving” depicts images from Iroquois cosmology embodying unity and gratitude.)

“The greatest gift may be that peace was considered by the Iroquois people to be one of the greatest gifts to mankind. Peace. And it was peace that was understood and achieved by the Iroquois during a time of great stress. It was a gift from the Creator, a gift that mankind doesn’t always achieve, but that doesn’t mean we stop believing it or stop striving for it, and it comes from the culture of our people.

Sometimes we become overwhelmed with negativity – that’s easy to do as Indian people, but we must not forget our culture. That same culture still exists and there’s still something to be done in America by its people sharing and understanding what American Indians not only have given but continue to give to America, and that’s the true spirit of Thanksgiving.”

– Ray Halbritter, official spokesperson of the Oneida Nation, on the Iroquois concept of “the good mind”

Here’s a post series from my blog archives about the evolution of the holiday, facts vs. myth.

10 THINGS ABOUT THANKSGIVING:

#1: Links and Resources – best websites, articles, & documentaries

#2: My Take on Thanksgiving – a few thoughts on perspective

#3: History of a Holiday – the birth of a legend

#4: The Wampanoag Side – the Indians of the “first Thanksgiving”

#5: That’s Not What They Looked Like! – an example of Thanksgiving stereotypes (one of my most popular posts!)

#6: The Indian Guests – more on the Wampanoag

#7: The Real Story – the historical Thanksgiving & archaeology

#8: The Original Thanksgiving Menu – the foods of the Plymouth Thanksgiving

#9: Thanksgiving 1621 – first-hand account

#10: The “First” First Thanksgiving – a little-known precursor to the holiday

Above: A National Geographic photo of the reconstructed Plimoth Plantation settlement.

#1: Links & Resources

Some useful links about Thanksgiving’s history

First and foremost I have to recommend the first episode of the American Experience series We Shall Remain. “After the Mayflower” gives a perceptive and thorough background of the Plymouth Colony and the relationship between the colonists and the Wampanoag. The reenactments are told primarily from the Native viewpoint and are extremely authentic. Very good for anyone interested in the subject – and best of all, you can watch it online for free, direct from the PBS website.

We Shall Remain: After the Mayflower

Smithsonian Magazine: “Native Intelligence” by Charles C. Mann – This is a very exhaustive historical writeup on early Wampanoag-colonist relations, the culture and politics of the region, and the background of the “first Thanksgiving.” Very highly recommended reading.

Plimoth Plantation – This is an organization similar to Colonial Williamsburg. It’s a historical society that uses reconstructions and reenactments for educational purposes. There are many good resources on their website including photos, essays, and an outstanding interactive for school-age kids about the 1621 Thanksgiving.

-Thanksgiving at Plimoth
http://www.plimoth.org/discover/thanksgiving/

-About the Wampanoag
http://www.plimoth.org/features/wampedusite.php

-The Food at the First Thanksgiving
http://www.plimoth.org/discover/thanksgiving/plenty.php

-Interactive: The First Thanksgiving
http://www.plimoth.org/education/olc/intro.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wampanoag

Homesite of the Mashpee Wampanoag
http://mashpeewampanoagtribe.com/

http://www.pequotmuseum.org/

Educational pamphlet about Thanksgiving (PDF)
http://americanindian.si.edu/education/files/NMAI_Harvest_Study_Guide.pdf

The “Original” Colonial Thanksgiving at St. Augustine:

http://www.usatoday.com/life/lifestyle/2007-11-20-first-thanksgiving_N.htm

http://jacksonville.com/tu-online/stories/112107/nes_218975232.shtml

#2: My Take on Thanksgiving

Holidays almost invariably stir up a lot of emotionally-charged issues. The volatile mix of relatives, religion, and politics inevitably leads to a lot of vitriol – and sometimes with good reason. Holidays in our modern culture tend to gravitate either towards crass commercialism or romanticized idealism, often combined with a convoluted view of history. In the case of Thanksgiving, gratitude and togetherness are excellent things to celebrate so long as they are not tinged with antiquated political propaganda and racial stereotyping. When this happens – intentionally or not – the results can be damaging.

In a bitter irony, the whole story of Thanksgiving shrouds what is possibly history’s worst case of ingratitude. No version of the Thanksgiving story would be complete without an account of the horrific sequel that occurred only a generation later. We all know the story of Squanto and the Wampanoag chief Massasoit befriending the Pilgrims and saving them from starvation, and later sharing the seminal “first Thanksgiving.” But few realize that many of the same Pilgrims who grew up in the shadow of that festive occasion later murdered Massasoit’s son and paraded his head through Plymouth in a second “unofficial” Thanksgiving; and that the very same Wampanoag with whom they had pledged friendship were brutally hunted and killed or sold into slavery. In a bitter irony, the whole story of Thanksgiving shrouds what is possibly history’s worst case of ingratitude. It’s hard to find another instance where a country’s ideals stand so high while its history is so contaminated with whitewash, treachery, and genocide. And the worst part is, most of us are completely disconnected with the reality of our past and the true context in which we commemorate it.

It’s easy to understand why so many Indians object to the popular form of Thanksgiving. On face value it seems to celebrate the successful European colonization of America and the exploitation of its bountiful resources at the expense of dispossessing an entire race – and to add insult to injury, it seems to commemorate the Indians’ generosity in helping the process along! Mainstream America eagerly incorporates Indians into its holidays, its entertainment, as sports mascots – almost casually, as if they are the intellectual property of the United States, part and parcel of the American mythology, and not real people who are part of living, sovereign nations. We love to include the Indian stereotype – without the price of telling the full story. (continue reading…)

#3: History of a Holiday

Notwithstanding its checkered past, Thanksgiving’s traditional emphasis on gratitude and togetherness has given it special appeal during nation-shaping periods that called for great solidarity. It was first observed as a holiday in New York in the 1700s, around the time of the American Revolution, when the disparate colonies were thrown together in the face of war.

Thanksgiving again rose in prominence after the Civil War, when the bitterly divided country – and its grieving homes – were encouraged to seek solace in the “common ideals” of America’s roots. At that time, an executive order by President Lincoln made Thanksgiving a national observance for the first time. It was later moved to its present date during the Depression in order to extend the commercial holiday season.

Below: Norman Rockwell’s iconic painting, “Freedom from Want.”