Howdy!
Welcome, welcome to another terrific Tuesday.
Autumn, how I love it — the crisp air, scented delicately with falling leaves and the smoke from wood stoves; Cinnamon and fresh apple cider, pumpkin pie, turkey and cranberry sauce, apple pie, the last of the corn on the cob…
And what about the “feels” of autumn? Traipsing through leaves, racking them up and jumping in them; picking up a leaf and tracing its pattern; warm days, cool nights, the pleasure of feeling Mother Earth prepare for a few months’ sleep.
And how about the touch of the Fall atmosphere upon one’s skin? And don’t you love the sounds of autumn? Cold nights and warm blankets, football games announcing the players; the sounds of cheerleaders and marching bands; long practices — even the quiet sound of leaves falling to the ground. How I love it.
Of course, to the people who lived close to the earth in our not-so-distant past, the look and feel of Fall was as beloved then as it is today. So much was this the case that the Eastern American Indians devoted an entire festival of fun and merriment to Autumn — and that festival was called the Harvest Festival.
Naturally, we are all pretty much aware that our Thanksgiving has a lot to do with the colonists’ association of the Eastern Indian tribes, and in particular Squanto who helped the new people who had come into this country. Although sometimes the history of our Thanksgiving is attributed to an English celebration, I’d like to put forth a differing point of view, if I might. At the end of this blog I’d love you to tell me your point of view..
When the colonists first came to this country, history tells us that the colonists were escaping religious persecution, and, indeed, this is true. But a deep dive into history also reveals that many people came to America as slaves or indentured servants because England was at that time emptying its prisons. But, regardless of why they came to America, we also know that their first winter in the new world saw the colonists ill-prepared for what was to come and many of those people suffered that first winter.
Seeing this, a particular American Indian man and a Native American tribe decided to help these colonists and taught them about the earth and how to plant the corn, beans and squash so they could obtain a bountiful harvest. They showed them the best hunting grounds also, as they went about trying to help these people survive.
The particular man who came to the aid of the colonists was Squanto, who had been captured by the English and brought to Spain. He somehow found his way to the monks in England, who, in turn, helped Squanto to return to his home. Some versions of this story say Squanto escaped incarceration in England and in doing so, was discovered by the monks. Some say he was sold to the monks as a slave.
But, whatever was the cause, Squanto came to live with the monks in England and was taught how to speak and how to read and write English. Imagine the colonists’ surprise when an Indian stepped out of the woods and spoke English to them.
Because of the American Indians’ help and their teaching the colonists how to plant the food that would grow in the soil of New England, as well as the Eastern American Indians sharing the knowledge of the best hunting grounds, when Harvest came, the Indians and the colonists had a bountiful harvest and they came together to celebrate what the Indians called the Harvest Festival. Th colonists came to call the same celebration Thanksgiving.
It is written the Indians bought much food to the colonists: deer meat, turkeys, corn, squash, beans and shared it all with their new friends, the colonists. And the colonists, in turn, shared what they had with the Indians. Also, there were many games and much fun celebrated on this first Thanksgiving which were common to the Harvest Festival of the American Indian tribes.
Now, the Harvest Festival was only one of six festivals of the Eastern American Indians. It was part of an ancient celebration wherein He who was and still is known as the Creator, was thanked for a good harvest season
Before the Harvest Festival began, the women would have already harvested the corn, beans and squash. Much of it would be dried. Corn husks were made into many different items, such as dolls, rugs and mats. Did you know that the dolls didn’t have faces? It was also a time to gather more nuts and berries. Men were busy, too, with hunting far away. Bear, moose, beaver were all sought after and hunted. When the Festival began, there would be much celebration, such as dancing, speeches and prayer. And of course — food. From the American Indian point of view, it was this particular festival that was shared with the newcomers to this continent.
Perhaps it’s because this one festival — Thanksgiving — was shared by the American Indians and Colonists alike that set the tone of Thanksgiving for future generations of Americans. And I do believe that the love of autumn and giving thanks for that which the Creator had given has its roots in The Harvest Festival, so beloved to the Eastern Indian Tribes.
What do you think?
And now for something very special. Recently a reader contacted me to talk about some of my books and I found out — upon emailing with her back and forth — that she makes Native American clothing and jewelry. In fact, very kindly she sent me some earrings that are made from deer skin. They are shaped in the form of a feather and are hand cut so delicately. They are absolutely beautiful. And, I’m going to give away a pair of these earrings to one of you lucky bloggers today.
I’m going to try to get my husband to help me upload a picture of the earrings here so you can see them, but I will also describe them because I am technology-challenged. Please excuse me on this. We lost internet last night for a while and so my husband was not able to post a picture. But, see below for the description. Update: Red Feather just sent me a couple of pictures of the earrings, and here they are:
The earrings are a light brown or tan color and, again, are shaped like a feather and have a gorgeous copper-colored chain that hangs down the front of the earring. They are hand-made, hand-cut and are so very, very beautiful. The creator of these earrings is a woman by the Indian name of Red Feather who has made other unique creations with Native American Style. email: garvinpa@aol.com
The first picture is the picture of the earrings I will be giving away and the second picture is of several different colors of the earrings.
To enter into the drawing for the earrings, all you have to do is comment on this blog. All the terms and conditions of give-aways on this site apply. (They are off to the right here and easy to read and short.)
So, in closing I’d like to ask your opinion. Do you think the roots of our Thanksgiving comes from a celebration that is found only in England, or do you think it comes from our American Indian heritage and their Harvest Festival? Is it uniquely American with its roots in Native America? Or do you think it might a combination of the two?
For me, I think our Thanksgiving has deep roots in Native America, not necessarily England, and that the ancient celebration of the Harvest Festival is still celebrated as a time of giving our thanks to God, The Creator, for the gift of plenty that was and is to be found within this country.
Thank you for reading, for coming to the blog today and for being loyal readers of the Petticoats and Pistols blog.
Happy Thanksgiving.
KAREN KAY aka GEN BAILEY is the multi-published author of American Indian Historical Romances. She has written for such prestigious publishers as AVON/HarperCollins, Berkley/Penguin/Putnam and Samhain Publishing. KAREN KAY’S great grandmother was Choctaw Indian and Kay is honored to be able to write about the American Indian Culture.
Please refer to https://petticoatsandpistols.com/sweepstakesrules for all contest rules.
I have long thought that Thanksgiving had its roots with the Native Americans and I am forever thankful for the care they gave our first settlers.
Hi Rhonda! Me, too. I share your opinion about this. Thanks for coming here today,
I always thought it came from a celebration with Natives Americans and their survival due to their help.
I, too, think this way and always have. Thanks for your thoughts.
I always think that Thanksgiving is due to the American Indian heritage and their Harvest Festival. Being an American Indian is my heritage.
Hi Audrey! So nice to see you here today. I think like you do about this. What is your heritage? Or might I ask what tribe are you? While I have a good deal of European heritage, I am also Choctaw.
interesting info in post
Thanks so much and thanks for coming here on this beautiful Fall day.
I think Native American. Enjoyed your post today. When I was young, churches in our area always had harvest festivals to celebrate Thanksgiving. It was always so fun to watch the food donations grow. Thank you for sharing history with us. Happy Thanksgiving!
Hi Kathy! Me, too. I have always thought the holiday was inspired because of the Harvest Festival of the American Indians. Thanks for coming here today!
Our thanksgiving has its roots in Native American’s culture. I believe for the most part it truly was thanksgiving for the pilgrims and the harvest festival for the Indians. It was a time to be thankful for the abundance of food, friends, and life.
Hi Kari Jean! I think you make a good point. The American Indians celebrated the Harvest Festival and the were honestly thankful for the bountiful harvest.
From the Native American culture. A harvest festival celebration that was meant to appreciate the bounty.
Hi Anne! I so very much agree with you about this. Thanks for coming to the blog today.
It is well known Thanksgiving was celebrated in England from the story of Scrooge. However, it was definitely augmented with much more with the arrival of our pilgrims at Plymouth Rock. Without the Indians they would never have survived. It was a very rough and unknown land to which they were more than challenged to survive. Many did not until the Indians came on the scene to help them. What do you imagine would have happened if they were not friendly to the Pilgrims? Devastation to be sure. I have always been drawn to the Indians and their life’s story. So, in short, my answer would be it heavily leans towards the Indians being the greater part of the Thanksgiving celebration. Thank the LORD.
Hi Judy! What a well thought out reply. I’ve always attributed Thanksgiving to the Indians and I really do think we celebrate — along with them — the Harvest Festival, because, without the Indians, the pilgrims might not have survived. Written history shows us there were European enemies (enemies to the Indians) who came to America before the pilgrims who captured Indians, took them overseas and sold them as slaves. There were also enemies before the pilgrims who raided the Indian tribes — there is the true story of Pocahontas, who was murdered because of the greed of the financiers in England — she was murdered in England while still in the river on their way back to America — as told by her own people (Pocahontas’s sister and her husband were with her on the trip to England) — it appears she was poisoned. So there was little reason for the Indians to trust any of the people coming to their shores. Squanto played a major role in rescuing the Pilgrims because of his friendship with the monks in England. But, I believe the most current story from Hollywood (and I don’t know the truth of it because Hollywood is known to make lies into movies), but according to most recent movie on the subject, Squanto was murdered by a warrior from an enemy tribe to Squanto and it appears it was due to jealousy. Anyway, thank goodness Squant and the Indians did, indeed, help the pilgrims. : )
I think that Thanksgiving is purely an American thing with roots in Native American.
I tend to like Friendsgiving a little bit more now.
Very much agree with you, Mary! Thanks for the post.
I truly believe the Indians were kind and welcoming to the settlers. They not only provided them food but taught them how to be self-sufficient — saving their lives. And in doing so they gifted them with the tradition of what is now known as Thanksgiving.
If the settlers had learned to live in peace and harmony with Mother Earth as the Indians did I think our nation would be a better place today.
I couldn’t agree with you more, Peggy! Thank you so much for your post.
I believe it was more of the Native Americans sharing their food and knowledge to try to get along with the colonists.
Native Americans value and appreciate what is given to them from “the Great Spirit”. They passed down their beliefs in stories.
I’m not sure that they even celebrate Thanksgiving in England. I had a pen pal from there and her family didn’t.
Hi Laurie! Love your post and I so agree with you. I think the celebration is in antiquity at present. I could be wrong, but I think so.
I think that Thanksgiving is purely an American holiday. I love the fellowship that Thanksgiving brings.
Hi Deborah! I very much agree with you! Thank you.
I think it is a combination of the two.
Hi Jackie! Thank you so very much!
It seems the idea of Thanksgiving beginning with the Natives Harvest Festival makes more sense then it being an English holiday. The pilgrims did not celebrate any particular holidays, preferring to focus on the Sabbath. They worked diligently to build Plymouth and even worked on Christmas because celebrating as it was done in Europe was not to their liking. I imagine the pilgrims were so grateful for surviving the horrid winter and for the help of Squanto and the others that they were delighted to share a feast of food and fun. It is said the pilgrims were at peace with the natives for over 50 years. Our modern thanksgiving has nothing to do with being thankful for a bountiful harvest. But each of us can take the time to thank the Lord for blessing us with another year.
What a wonderfully insightful post. You put a bit of history there to make it all make sense. Thank you.
I also think Native American. Some of my ancestors were Shawnee!
Hi Lynn! The Shawnee~Wow! The Shawnee were quite a wonderful tribe. Had Tecumhsa — excuse spelling– succeeded, things might have gone differently.
OMG I love the earrings. That is why I am so proud of my heritage.
Even though I have had some people tell me that just because I am only 1/4 that I am not native.
For xmas I am going to be doing ancestry & I can’t wait.
Hi Barb! I think it’s great that you are proud of your heritage. I am, too, and my heritage is probably about the same % as yours. Yes, they sure are beautiful, aren’t they? Thanks for posting.
Sorry I didn’t enter everything & I love the earrings
Hi Barb! You are so very kind. I love them, too. They are so beautiful!
Hi, in the UK we don’t really celebrate Harvest Festival. It is something that the schools and churches do to collect food for the elderly but outside these institutions it is mostly ignored. This takes place usually in September. We don’t celebrate Thanksgiving at all – that is a US thing, we have our Turkey at Christmas
Hi Kevin! Thank you so very much for this info. Wow! I have been told that in the past it was celebrated. So very much appreciate your info. And, hello. NIce to meet you.
I was raised in a very conservative church which felt Thanksgiving was a religious-based holiday–too much so. I attend a more traditional church now. At school, we learned how the colonists in Plymouth learned from the Indigenous Peoples, and they had a harvest celebration together. I like to believe the there may have been some combination, since many people have celebrations at the end of harvest time, especially when so many worked the land and had to settle in for the winter, but the influence from the Native People should never be discarded.
denise
Hi Denise! You put this so beautifully. I think that fact that the American Indians and the colonists came together in friendship should never be forgotten. I so firmly believe we are all of one race — the human race. And it just happens to come in different colors. : ) Thanks for your comment.
Hi Karen, Thank you so much for this post and very beautiful reminder, we have the Native Americans to Thank for our First Thanksgiving. Have a great day and a great rest of the week. God Bless you and your family.
Hi Alicia! I must admit that I agree with you about this. I think we have even more than Thanksgiving to thank for many other beautiful things in our society, but that’s probably for another post. : ) Thanks Alicia!
I have long believed our first settlers were influenced by the Native Americans on not only how to survive but to remember to give thanks for a bountiful harvest.
Hi Cherie! Thank you so much for your thoughts on this. I do agree with you. And I love that we celebrate the friendship between the American Indians and the colonists even to this day. May that friendship continue even in these hard times.
Without a doubt, a lot of the things we celebrate and honor in this world can be traced back to our Native Americans ancestors. Especially our Thanksgiving. Without their help that first winner many of us wouldn’t exist today for many reasons. I’m so thankful for EVERYTHING they gave this world, then and now. They do continue to give everyday, but many of us refuse to see it. I’ve always been proud of my heritage, being a little bit Cherokee, which leads all the way back to The Trail of Tears. The earrings are very beautiful and I hope Red Feather continues to give our world her beautiful work that only comes from her heart. This world has gotten so cruel and ugly that a small token can brighten it a little. With Thanksgiving just around the corner, I hope and pray each of you have a wonderful Thanksgiving Day with family and friends and that we all remember why we have such a wonderful day to celebrate. Thank those Native Americans and colonists, but most of all thank God, the ultimate Creator. Thank you, Karen, for allowing me to ramble on. God Bless Y’all.
What a beautiful post, Valerie. So very beautiful. Thank you for sharing your thoughts with me and the others here. Very inspiring.
Thanksgiving is celebrated in Canada on the second Monday of October. Maybe would should say it is a North-American holiday. I don’t know the history behind Canada’s celebration but I have always believed in the US we would not have such a celebration without the influence of Native American Indians.
Thanks for the Thanksgiving post.
Hi Alice! You bring up a point I hadn’t thought about. Which is without the influence of Native American Indians, we probably wouldn’t have the celebration. Thank you for your thoughts.
I think it is a bit of a mix with a strong Native American element. Most cultures have a fall celebration and elements came into play. If we had a Thanksgiving and no Native American element it would look vastly different. Such holidays were proclaimed by kings and queens before but not as an annual event. As this are we have, I believe, the best of both worlds.
Hi David! Thank you for sharing your perspective on this with me. You know what I love about it, is that we celebrate this every year, just like the Americans Indians did and still do. And we needed no kings or queens to decree it. What a wonderful point to make. : ) Nice to see you here on the blog.
Thank you for sharing I feel it is The Native Americans that was why we celebrate Thanksgiving, and their Harvest was so bountiful Blessings to you and yours! Love the earrings!
Hi Sarah! Thank you for sharing your thoughts. I tend to agree with you. I don’t think we’d be celebrating it if it weren’t for the friendship between the colonists and Squanto and the other Indians. To me we celebrate a friendship between two different peoples who came together peacefully to give thanks to God. What a wonderful event this is and we still celebrate it to this day. Thanks Sarah.
Hi Karen, Enjoyed your blog. I think the Native Americans taught us how to celebrate Thanksgiving & many more things in order to survive. But, we didn’t respect them & took everything from them. Let’s pray we have learned a great lesson from this. Have a blessed Thanksgiving with your husband & family. Your reader.
Hi Lois, Thank you so much for your thoughts about this. Must say I agree with you. One thing to remember, however, is that very specific people within the gov’t are the ones who kept breaking treaties and taking what wasn’t theirs to sell to settlers who had often bought the “ill-gotten” land from the gov’t. To hold an idea that white people in general were to blame is a grievous error that doesn’t lead to a resolution of the problem. Very specific people did this and organized military to go after, maim and kill all in the cause of land and greed. If one reads a bit of history who exactly those people were can be found. I think there is something wrong with a gov’t that allows specific people within their ranks to steal, maim and kill in order to justify themselves.
How kind and generous of your friend to share her earrings with you and us. She does lovely work. I looked, but didn’t find a site for her work.
Thanksgiving festivals of one type or another are found in most cultures. It seems natural for man to take the time after working hard all through the growing season to be thankful and celebrate the success of their efforts. After the harvest and putting up of the produce is the logical time to do it. Sometimes it is tied to a religious celebration and sometimes not. What we consider the American Thanksgiving celebration was a combination of English and Native traditions. One was actually celebrated in Canada by an English explorer about 50 years before the Pilgrims celebrated their’s. We all have our own Thanksgivings for one reason or another. The Thanksgiving Harvest Festival is one we all celebrate together.
Hi Patricia! Red Feather’s work can be looked at and she can be communicated with at her email address at garvinpa@aol.com — hope this helps. Thank you so much for sharing your thoughts. They are always insightful! : )