Or, as We Call It, the First Thanksgiving
The Wampanoag Tribe or “People of the First Light” were a peaceful but cautious group. Their leader, Massasoit, met with the colonists on a few occasions to discuss a way everyone could live and learn from each other. This peaceful union led to a gathering in 1621. Massasoit was invited to celebrate the successful and bountiful harvest (which would have never happened without the help of the Wampanoags). He accepted the invitation and brought ninety men with him. Women and children were sent for later, after it was determined that there was no threat or danger. However, the colonists did not plan on having so many guests and were quite short on supplies for the visitors. Massasoit commanded his best hunters to go out immediately and bring back the needed venison and other game to supplement the feast.
Preparing the food was incredibly labor-intensive (no pre-cut meats wrapped in plastic), but everyone participated and helped with the butchering, plucking, grinding, shucking, roasting, and serving. It was truly a collaborative effort.
The feast went on for three days—not just a single meal, as we have today, but many. They did not just eat and drink; there were also talks of diplomacy, military drills, games, and various types of entertainment. A good time was had by all. The Wampanoags were and still are a people with a strong sense of community and family, so one could guess that this was, indeed, celebratory and inclusive.
Although the modern-day observation of Thanksgiving involves one large meal with family and a traditional menu, this first feast was not filled with turkey, mashed potatoes, and cranberry sauce. Instead, food included eels, clams, oysters, cod, sea bass, wild onions, leeks, watercress, duck, geese, venison, dried plums, berries, beans, squash, nuts, wine, and, of course, cornmeal. Just rewards for a year of hard work.
It is a shame that after all this diplomacy, shared knowledge, and peace, a full-scale war developed in 1675 between the natives and the English known as King Philip’s War.
The Wampanoag Tribe
The Wampanoag Tribe held territory from Rhode Island up through Massachusetts, inland and coastal, as well as on Martha’s Vineyard and Nantucket. Roughly sixty-five villages were scattered throughout New England in the early seventeenth century.
In 1615, the first of several epidemics swept through their villages; it is suspected to have been smallpox or a bacterial infection. The epidemic destroyed families and wiped out entire villages, bringing their numbers down from about 40,000 to about 6,000. As a result, having an alliance with the colonists became imperative to hold their territories and protect themselves from other Native American tribes.
They often cooked in clay pots, and they utilized everything nature provided. Dishes such as nasaump (porridge) are still made today according to tradition, using berries, nuts, acorns, and chestnuts to create a flavorful meal. Other dishes included sobaheg (stew), marachock (passion flower) jelly, msiekquatash (succotash), sautauthig (blueberry cornmeal porridge), and puttuckqunnege (boiled bread).
Hobbamock, or Squanto, was instrumental in the survival of the colonists. With his fluent English, sense of diplomacy, and farming and hunting skills, we modern Americans all owe him a beer or two.
Today, the Wampanoags continue traditions from their early days—storytelling, reviving their language, organizing internal governments, and maintaining respect for nature through ceremonies, dance, and cooking. They have adapted to modern techniques, while passing on the story of their heritage.
Massasoit, the Grand Sachem
Massasoit, along with Samoset and Squanto, is credited for saving the American colonists from certain starvation. He was born in 1590 near what is now known as Bristol, Rhode Island. He was the Grand Sachem, or leader, of the Wampanoag Indians.
Samoset, a subordinate chief, convinced Massasoit that a peaceful alliance with the new colonists would benefit the tribe and protect their territories. Massasoit agreed, and so began a peaceful union. This alliance lasted until shortly after his death in 1661. During the peaceful years, Massasoit shared knowledge and techniques that the settlers were in desperate need of. In return, along with the feast of 1621, the colonists were instrumental in nursing the Grand Sachem back to health in 1623 after a bout of dangerous illness.
There is not a lot of information available about his personal life, but we do know he had five children. He was described as being a man of few words, but when he spoke, you listened!
After his death, more settlers arrived, causing tension as resources were depleted and settlers demanded more land. This all led to a very bloody battle led by Massasoit’s second son, Metacomet (who later became King Philip). King Philip’s War was one of the deadliest battles in US history, lasting for one year.
