The First Thanksgiving: Separating Fact from Fiction: Fact vs. Fiction in U.S. History by Peter Mavrikis, consultant Katrina Phillips PhD, Capstone Press, North Mankato, Minnesota, 2022.
I must admit I don't like the tone of this book. It takes the tone that what you know of Thanksgiving is wrong and I am right. That attitude turns me off.
Pilgrims were not originally called pilgrims but first-comers or forefathers. The word pilgrims was applied in the 1800s. They had planned on landing in the Hudson River area but weather pushed them north. Before landing, the Wampanoag people had been decimated by disease. There were abandoned villages which were taken over by the new arrivals. Squanto was in fact a Native American who had early been taken slave to England, and consequently could speak with the Pilgrims and teach them how to survive in this new world. Massasoit welcome the newcomers and they lived in peace until after his death. However his son Matacomet or Prince Phillip was not so accommodating which resulted in a war for many years. The food served at th first harvest feast included deer and turkey, geese and ducks. Seafood was also served including cod, eel and clams. There were vegetables: corn squash, beans, peas and pumpkin. The original feast lasted for three days. The pilgrims did not wear fancy clothes, but plain clothing. Likewise the Native Americans did not tout fancy headdresses. Thanksgiving was not declared a national holiday until the Civil War era and so proclaimed by Abraham Lincoln.
