The Myth of the First Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving days go back at least to Hebrew folk of yore.
The Puritans had many, taking cues from scripture lore.
The first known civic one began in 1623,
Two years beyond a feast that would go down in history.

The feast was said to last three days at some point in the fall,
Most likely circa Michaelmas, which isn’t close at all
To modern-day tradition’s late November; nonetheless,
That’s not the biggest issue with the myth as I assess.

It’s true that Plymouth colonists had gathered lots of food
With help from local Indians the Pilgrims would include,
But natives weren’t invited till they came prepared for war,
When celebrators’ gunshots were too noisy to ignore.

The Wampanoag sachem Ousamequin sought a pact
Against the Narragansett if they ever should attack.
Not every Wampanoag wanted Pilgrims on their side
In light of some enslavement, but the groups were still allied.

The prior winter wiped out half the Pilgrim population.
The sachem thus appealed to the survivors’ desperation.
He called upon Tisquantum, known as Squanto, who would teach
Techniques for catching eels and growing corn in English speech.

But how’d he know the language well? The answer lies in pain:
An English crew abducted him and sold him off to Spain.
He then escaped to England. By the time he got back home,
His people, the Patuxet, had succumbed to plagues unknown.

Indeed, the Plymouth colony was built upon their ground,
The signs of a Patuxet village nowhere to be found.
Tisquantum, too, would catch disease and die a few years hence.
(I hope you will forgive me for a poem this intense.)

Another thing to note is that by colonists’ accounts,
A bunch of different animals were served in great amounts.
The turkey wasn’t prominent, and nobody had pie
(For lack of wheat and butter, just in case you wondered why).

And finally, although the feasters probably said grace,
No mention of “thanksgiving” can be found in any trace
Of words by those who’d been there; it was more about relief
From famine and the other factors causing so much grief.

George Washington declared the first U.S. Thanksgiving Day,
But whether he had Plymouth’s feast in mind, I couldn’t say.
The myth grew more important in the 19th century.
Today, it’s not so honored, but it still appeals to me.