The ThanksGiving tradition really started with the British Civil War of 1621-1642, Oliver Cromwell, and the Puritan uprising of 1653 which ended parliamentary government in England until 1660.

The "Pilgrims" were a sub sect of the Puritans who wanted to achieve the puritan ideal in America. They were at odds with the King and the Church of England.

The Pilgrims intended to create a new nation completely independent from non-Puritan England. In 1643 the Pilgrims declared themselves an independent confederacy and wanted to establish the "Kingdom of God"

So they came to America in the Mayflower and other ships as well to set up their ideal life, but were not prepared for the task they faced.

The Wampanoag Indians were one of the Algonkian-speaking peoples who were distantly related to the Iroquois, and for the last hundred years European slavers, had been raiding their coastal villages.

They knew of the power of the white people, and they did not trust them. But their religion taught that they were to give charity to the helpless and hospitality to anyone who came to them with empty hands.

Probably the most amazing part of the ThanksGiving story was an English speaking Indian named Squanto, who pretty much saves the whole colony. How he came to be there at this time could easily be considered a miracle.

In the spring, Squanto and Samoset were hunting and seen people from England in their deserted village. Finally they walked into the village and said "welcome," in English.

Squanto was originally from the village of Patuxet (Pa TUK et) and a member of the Pokanokit Wampanoag nation.

In 1605, Squanto went to England with a friendly English explorer named John Weymouth. He had many adventures and learned to speak English. Squanto came back to New England with Captain Weymouth.

Later Squanto was captured by slavers and sold to the Spanish where a Spanish Franciscan priest who helped him get to England. Squanto then found Captain Weymouth, who paid his way back to his homeland. In England Squanto met Samoset They both returned 1620. When they arrived, Everyone in the village had died from an illness the English slavers had left behind. Squanto and Samoset went to a neighboring village of Wampanoags.

One year later, in the spring, Squanto and Samoset were hunting along the beach near Patuxet. They were startled to see people from England in their deserted village. For several days, they stayed nearby observing the newcomers. Finally they decided to approach them. Samoset walked into the village and said "welcome," Squanto soon joined him. The Pilgrims were very surprised to meet two Indians who spoke English.

The Wampanoags custom was to help visitors, and they treated the newcomers with courtesy. It was mainly because of their kindness that the Pilgrims survived at all. The wheat the Pilgrims had brought with them to plant would not grow in the rocky soil. They needed to learn new ways for a new world, and the man who came to help them was called "Tisquantum" (Tis SKWAN tum) or "Squanto" (SKWAN toe).

The Pilgrims were living in dirt-covered shelters, there was a shortage of food, and nearly half of them had died during the winter.

They obviously needed help and the two men were a welcome sight. Squanto, who probably knew more English than any other Indian in North America at that time, decided to stay with the Pilgrims for the next few months and teach them how to survive in this new place. He brought them deer meat and beaver skins.

He taught them how to cultivate corn and other new vegetables and how to build Indian-style houses. He pointed out poisonous plants and showed how other plants could be used as medicine. He explained how to dig and cook clams, how to get sap from the maple trees, use fish for fertilizer, and dozens of other skills needed for their survival.

By the time fall arrived things were going much better for the Pilgrims, thanks to the help they had received. The corn they planted had grown well. There was enough food to last the winter. They were living comfortably in their Indian-style wigwams and had also managed to build one European-style building out of squared logs. This was their church.

They were now in better health, and they knew more about surviving in this new land. The Pilgrims decided to have a ThanksGiving feast to celebrate their good fortune. They had observed ThanksGiving feasts in November as religious obligations in England for many years before coming to the New World.

The Algonkian tribes held six ThanksGiving festivals during the year. The beginning of the Algonkian year was marked by the Maple Dance which gave thanks to the Creator for the maple tree and its syrup. This ceremony occurred when the weather was warm enough for the sap to run in the maple trees, sometimes as early as February.
Second was the planting feast, where the seeds were blessed.
The strawberry festival was next, celebrating the first fruits of the season.
Summer the green corn festival to give thanks for the ripening corn.
In late fall, the harvest festival gave thanks for the food they had grown.
Mid-winter was the last ceremony of the old year. When the Indians sat down to the "first Thanksgiving" with the Pilgrims, it was really the fifth ThanksGiving of the year for them!

Miles Standish invited Squanto, Samoset, Massasoit (the leader of the Wampanoags), and their immediate families to join them for a celebration, but they had no idea how big Indian families could be. As the Thanksgiving feast began, the Pilgrims were overwhelmed at the large turnout of ninety relatives that Squanto and Samoset brought with them.

The Pilgrims were not prepared to feed a gathering of people that large for three days. Seeing this, Massasoit gave orders to his men to go home and get more food. The Indians supplied the majority of the food: Five deer, many wild turkeys, fish, beans, squash, corn soup, corn bread, and berries.

Captain Standish sat at one end of a long table and the Clan Chief Massasoit sat at the other end.

The Indian women sat together with the Indian men to eat. The Pilgrim women, however, stood quietly behind the table and waited until after their men had eaten, since that was their custom.

For three days the Wampanoags feasted with the Pilgrims. It was a special time of friendship between two very different groups of people. A peace and friendship agreement was made between Massasoit and Miles Standish giving the Pilgrims the clearing in the forest where the old Patuxet village once stood to build their new town of Plymouth.