The very first Thanksgiving was held after life had been so difficult the year before. Thanksgiving is a time to strengthen our attitudes, or maybe alter our emotions. We can finds ways to be thankful even during extremely difficult times.
It was 1609, and on the coast of Massachusetts was a native tribe called the Patuxets. In that tribe, there was a boy about 12 years old called Tisquantum, or Squanto. A big ship of men from a different world sailed into the bay. Squanto and his friends didn’t fear them, so they ran to see who they were. At first, everyone was friendly, but they quickly took the boys captive and threw them into the hold beneath the deck.
When they were finally removed from the ship, they were in Malaga, Spain. The boys were sold as slaves. A group of monks bought Squanto. The monks were nice to him and treated him well. They shared God with him. The monks knew that Squanto had missed his family in America, so they took Squanto to London, E angland, hoping he could travel back to his family. He stayed there with the Slanies and worked in their stables for 5 years. In 1918, he sailed back to America. He discovered that his entire family and tribe had died from a terrible sickness.
Eventually, he learned English settlers lived in Patuxet, where Squanto had lived as a boy. He spoke English, which surprised the settlers. He told them his story: how he was captured, served the monks, and worked in London for five years. William Bradford then told Squanto their story about the first winter and how half of them died from starvation and sickness. They had a bitterly cold winter and not enough food.
Squanto stayed and worked with the Pilgrims, teaching them how to survive in this strange new world. The first Thanksgiving celebration was a celebration with both cultures, as 90 native warriors, each carrying food, came for the celebration.
Celebrate Thanksgiving well.
