The First Thanksgiving

Squanto. Not exactly a household name but a name we all heard in grade school. He helped the pilgrims, and was perhaps the one reason our nation made it through it’s birth pangs.   

Squato was an Indian boy that was kidnapped by English explorers and taken to Europe as a slave. History says that a group of monks helped him gain his freedom. When he returned to his homeland he found his entire tribe wiped out by disease. He joined the Patuxet Tribe of the Wampanoag Nation led by Tisquantum. Remember that name, there will be a test later. 

Since Squanto could speak English he became quick friends with the Pilgrims. It is probably safe to say that they wouldn’t have survived without his help. Squanto taught them how to build warm houses. The Indians had houses? How to fish and hunt and in the spring, and  how to plant crops. Cod and eels were abundant in the ocean. He helped the pilgrims trade with the Indians. 

He helped establish a treaty that lasted for 50 years. I am sure that The Pilgrims got most of the seed that they used from the Indians. One of the things Squanto taught about gardening  was a method we call the three sisters. I have seen it done at Sauder Village and also tried it myself. Sauder Village has an Indian incampmont representing the tribes in their area, The Shawnee, The Erie, and The Wyandotte.

The Three sisters were planted in a hill. They were flint corn, climbing beans and squash. What we would now call companion planting. The corn supported the climbing beans, The beans provided nitrogen for the corn, and the squash with their prickly leaves kept bugs at bay. The Indians also taught them to use fish as fertilizer. They also tapped the trees for maple syrup.

No wonder the Pilgrims were thankful that November. They were fortunate to have survived and be prepared for the winter. The first colony Jamestown, disappeared. It seems they had a good relationship with the Indians. Many things to be thankful for. 

In this very first settlement in the new land God made provisions for help. What are the odds, of a young Indian boy captured, and coming back to help the Pilgrims. Seems unfair, Squanto died a year after the first Thanksgiving. Reminds me of a song by the McKameys. When Lazarus was sick Jesus tarried and didn’t come, but when he did, “Here comes Jesus right on time.”

—James Neuhouser