I spent a few minutes on the internet reading about the origin of our Thanksgiving celebration. The celebration really revolves around one Indigenous man named Squanto.
Squanto, a Patuxet Native American
also known as Tisquantum, served a pivotal, albeit controversial, role in early
Plymouth Colony history. Captured in 1614 and sold into slavery in Spain, he
was freed by friars, spent time in England, and returned home in 1619 to find
his tribe wiped out by European diseases brought by settlers across the ocean.
In 1621, Squanto met the newly arrived Pilgrims. Employing his capability to
speak English, he taught them survival skills like using fish as fertilizer and
brokered peace between them and Wampanoag Chief Massasoit. This was crucial for
the settlers' survival and led to the first Thanksgiving, a feast in which the
Pilgrims and the Wampanoag celebrated together following a successful harvest
season.
However, Squanto's legacy is complex.
Some historians argue he manipulated tensions between settlers and tribes,
seeking power over Massasoit. His alleged false claims about Massasoit plotting
against the English led to his ostracism, though the Pilgrims protected him,
defying Massasoit. Squanto developed a fever and died in 1622, leaving a legacy
as both a Pilgrim savior and a divisive figure among his people. Here we are,
400 years later, celebrating Thanksgiving in our own ever-changing and
sometimes divisive landscape.
Image: Kean Collection/Archive Photos/Getty Images
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