Squanto and The Harvest Feast of 1621

Who Picked up the tab at the "First" Thanks-giving? 

This cute little joke on the left is not only  cosmic but also literal truth. When the Pilgrims invited Squanto to invite his family over for a celebration of good harvest, they got their first taste of Indian extended families.

  

When the English ship Mayflower crossed the Atlantic in 1620, they landed near the area that had been previously inhabited by the Wampanoag (Wam pa NO ag) Indians. These 102 Pilgrims or The Puritan exiles called the place Plymouth Plantation. They ate from abandoned cornfields grown wild.

Wampanoags were Algonquian-speaking peoples, members of a large group that was part of the Woodland Culture, as are the Ojibwe. These Indians lived in villages along the coast of what is now Massachusetts and Rhode Island. They lived in round-roofed houses called wiigiwaaman (wigwams). These were made of poles covered with flat sheets of elm or birch bark.

Like many tribes, the Wampanoags moved seasonally to follow the food. In the spring they would fish in the rivers for salmon and herring. In the planting season they moved to the forest to farm, and hunt deer and other animals, not only for food but for clothing and tools. At the end of the hunting season the people moved inland for greater protection from the winter. From December to April they lived on food stored in the earlier months.

The basic dress for men was the breech clout, a length of deerskin looped over a belt in back and in front. Women wore deerskin wrap-around skirts. Deerskin leggings and fur capes made from deer, beaver, otter, and bear skins gave protection during the colder seasons, and deerskin moccasins were worn on the feet. Both men and women usually braided their hair and a single feather was often worn in the back of the hair by men.

Leaders of the Algonquin people were called "sachems" (SAY chems). Each village had its own sachem and tribal council. Political power flowed upward from the people. Any individual, man or woman, could participate and hold political power.

The Wampanoags treated each other with respect. Any visitor to a Wampanoag home was provided with a share of whatever food the family had, even if the supply was low. This same courtesy was extended to the Pilgrims when they met.

This courtesy and kindness by the Wampanoags helped the Pilgrims to survive. The wheat the Pilgrims had brought with them would not grow in the rocky soil. They needed to learn new ways and the man who came to help them was called "Tisquantum" (Tis SKWAN tum) anglicized as Squanto (SKWAN toe). Squanto was originally from the village/tribe of Patuxet (Pa TUK et) which curiously once stood on the exact site where the Pilgrims built Plymouth.


The Patuxet were wiped out by a series of plagues that decimated the indigenous peoples of southeastern New England in the second decade of the 17th century. It is said that only Squanto survived, although he too would succumb to small pox in 1622. In 1605, Squanto went to England with a friendly English explorer named John Weymouth, learned to speak English. and returned with Weymouth.

Tisquantum "Squanto"

Later Squanto was captured by a British slaver and sold to the Spanish in the Caribbean Islands. A Spanish Franciscan priest befriended Squanto and helped him to get to Spain and later to England. Squanto found Captain Weymouth, who paid his way back to his homeland.

In England Squanto met Samoset of the Wabanake (Wab NAH key) Tribe, who had also left his native home with an English explorer. They both returned together to Patuxet in 1620. When they arrived, the village was deserted with skeletons everywhere. All had died from an illness the English slavers had left behind. Squanto and Samoset went to stay with a neighboring village of Wampanoags. The Native people of this stretch of shoreline had been killed off in great numbers. In 1614 the British took 24 Indians as slaves and left smallpox, syphilis and gonorrhea behind. That plague swept the "tribes of New England", with mortality reaching 100% in many villages

One year later, Squanto and Samoset were hunting near Patuxet. He was startled to see people from England in his deserted village. For several days, he observed the newcomers, finally deciding to approach them. He walked into the village and said "Welcome," The Pilgrims of course were surprised to meet Indians who spoke English.

The Pilgrims were not in a good condition. They were living in dirt-covered shelters, there was a shortage of food, and nearly half had died during the winter. They obviously needed help. Squanto decided to stay with the Pilgrims for the next few months and teach them how to survive in this new place. He brought them deer meat and beaver skins. He taught them how to cultivate corn and other vegetables and how to build Indian-style houses. He pointed out poisonous plants and showed how others could be used as medicine. He explained how to tap maple trees, use fish for fertilizer, and dozens of other skills needed for survival. Without the agricultural expertise of Squanto the Pilgrims would surely have perished.


By the time fall arrived things were going much better for the Pilgrims. The corn had grown well. There was enough food to last the winter. They were living comfortably in their wiigiwaaman and had also managed to build one European-style building, a church, out of squared logs. They were in better health, and knew more about survival.

In addition, Squanto also served as an intermediary between the Pilgrims and Massasoit, the Grand Sachem of the Wampanoag. As such, he was instrumental in the friendship treaty that was signed, allowing the settlers to occupy the area around the old Patuxet village. Massasoit would honor this treaty until his death in 1661.

These were very lucky breaks for the colonists. Thanks to the good will of the Wampanoag, the Puritans not only survived their first year but had an alliance with the Wampanoags that would give them years of peace.


In the fall of 1621, the Plymouth colonists decided to have a thanksgiving feast in celebration of their good fortune. It later became known as "Thanksgiving", but they never called it that.

The Pilgrims invited Squanto, Samoset, Massasoit (the leader of the Wampanoags), and their immediate families to join them for a celebration, but they had no idea how big Indian families could be.

As the thanksgiving feast began, the Pilgrims were overwhelmed at the large turnout of ninety relatives that the three invited brought with them. The Pilgrims were not prepared to feed a gathering of people that large for three days. Seeing this, Massasoit gave orders to his men within the first hour of his arrival to go home and get more food.

Thus it happened that the Indians supplied the majority of the food: Five deer, many wild turkeys, fish, beans, squash, corn soup, corn bread, and berries. For the first time the Wampanoag people were sitting at a table to eat instead of on mats or furs spread on the ground. The Indian women sat together with the Indian men to eat. The Pilgrim women, however, stood quietly behind the table and waited until after their men had eaten, since that was their custom.

For three days the Wampanoags feasted with the Pilgrims. It was a special time of friendship between two very different cultures. The peace and friendship agreement that was made allowed the Pilgrims to clear the forest where the old Patuxet village once stood and build their new town of Plymouth.

Wouldn't it be wonderful to say that this friendship lasted a long time and to this day? But, unfortunately, that was not to be. Imagine had the Pilgrims taken on the social and spiritual values of their hosts and the teachings of helping those in need as they did in 1621. Might every day be, Thanksgiving Day?

There is still a Wampanoag tribe in New England with ancestors the ones of Thanksgiving fame. There are only about 2000 members left on a reservation on Martha’s Vineyard.

Compiled, Edited, and Written by Omakakii