The Pilgrims: Alliance with Massasoit's People and the First Thanksgiving

The Pilgrims: Alliance with Massasoit’s People and the First Thanksgiving

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Thanksgiving Interactive: You are the Historian from Plimoth Plantation What really happened at the First Thanksgiving? Become a history detective and find out! In this fun, award-winning activity, you take on the role of a “history detective” to investigate what really happened at the famous 1621 celebration. (Hint: It was a lot more than just a feast!) Along the way, you will read a letter written by an eyewitness to the event, learn about Wampanoag traditions of giving thanks, and visit Pilgrim Mary Allerton’s home. As a final activity, you can design and print your own Thanksgiving exhibit panel.

American Indian Perspectives on Thanksgiving from The National Museum of the American Indian This multi-page PDF poster takes a look at just a few Native communities through the prism of three main themes that are central to understanding both American Indians and the deeper meaning of the Thanksgiving holiday. The themes are: • Environment: traditional knowledge about and understandings of the natural world. • Community: the role that group identity plays in Native cultures. • Encounters: how interactions between cultures have affected those cultures.

Thanksgiving History Background Essay from Plimoth Plantation Thanksgiving is a particularly American holiday. The word evokes images of football, family reunions, roasted turkey with stuffing, pumpkin pie and, of course, the Pilgrims and Wampanoag, the acknowledged founders of the feast. But was it always so? Read on to find out …