They may carry loyalty to different tribes, but they are all Americans, the living expression of the national motto: E Pluribus Unum – Out of Many, One. And we do [celebrate]…because mostly we don’t celebrate it because of the pilgrims but because of what it stands for…giving thanks for all we have. The natives also instructed the pilgrims on how to hunt and fish.
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The Indians and Pilgrims were buddies? Christopher:”I was adopted into a clan in Pueblo CO, and yes I do [celebrate]”. His research shows that colonists in St. Augustine celebrated a Thanksgiving feast with Native Americans more than half a century earlier than that, in 1565. But the “Pilgrims” we know were Separatists: That faction that pronounced any attempt to “reform” the Church of England hopeless, and sought to establish a new church community entirely. But they don’t. That is where you and I come in. Martin:”I’m a little under 10% or so, and yes, I do [celebrate]”.
Today, Thanksgiving celebrations often focus on cooking and sharing a lavish meal with family and friends.
If you have a chance to catch National Geographic’s “Saints and Sinners” being repeated on the tube this week, it is apparently a more realistic version of what actually happened. Lauren:”I do [celebrate]. Because food”. Coordinator Linda Yeradi says the meal is as much for those who want to spend part of the day with others as for those who can’t afford a holiday meal or are homebound or stuck at work today. It is the busiest shopping day in the year and the start of shopping for Christmas for many. Most people identify the origin of the holiday with the Pilgrims’ first bountiful harvest.
Myth 7. Native Americans wore loincloths and feathers. This country has a phenomenal history of liberty and diversity melting into greatness. Someone pointed out that William Bradford, leader of the Plymouth colony, had once noted that the saints left England, which he said was a good and pleasant place, but “they (the saints) knew they were pilgrims, and looked not much on those things, but lift up their eyes to ye heavens, their dearest country, and quieted their spirits”. We pause, recalling Ireland’s great potato starvation and 1939, the year we forced a ship carrying hundreds of Jewish refugees to return to Europe; to editorialize not on the absurdity of hate and rhetoric but to ponder the meaning of Thanksgiving. I grew up on a farm.
So as you sit on your couch stuffed, watching football this Thanksgiving, remember all those who have supported you and have helped you along the way in this chaotic world. Love the ones around you and be thankful for what you have.
But when disaster strikes, whether as hurricane, blizzard or terrorist attack, we manage to overcome differences and rebuild what is broken. But I was not taught the two go hand in hand.
I am not sure he fully understood the object lesson.
One is a memory of tragedies that should never be forgotten. However, there are always other ways to celebrate and bring awareness.
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In the United States, the modern Thanksgiving holiday tradition is commonly, but not universally, traced to a sparsely documented 1621 celebration at Plymouth in present-day MA.
