The first Thanksgiving
25th November 2008
The trouble is, almost everything we’ve been taught about the first Thanksgiving in 1621 is a myth. The holiday has two distinct histories – the actual one and a romanticized portrayal.
Very true.
No one is certain whether the Wampanoag and the colonists regularly sat together and shared their food, or if the three-day “thanksgiving” feast Mr. Winslow recorded for posterity was a one-time event.
Not even close. What the Pigrims were doing is the Martinmas feast, traditional in England from time out of mind.
From the late 4th century CE to the late Middle Ages, much of Western Europe, including Great Britain, engaged in a period of fasting beginning on the day after St. Martin’s Day, November 11. This fast period lasted 40 days, and was, therefore, called “Quadragesima Sancti Martini”, which means in Latin “the forty days of St. Martin.” At St. Martin’s eve, people ate and drank very heartily for a last time before they started to fast. This fasting time was later called “Advent” by the Church. #
Orthodox Christians still observe this pre-Nativity fast. The Pilgrims couldn’t refer to a “papist” Saint’s day, of course, so they “repurposed” it as a harvest festival … but it was the traditional Martinmas feast.
“But wait”, you say, “November 11 is not even close to the last Thursday in November.” Not now, but it used to be — in 1627 the Gregorian Calendar hadn’t yet come to England, and the Julian calendar they used was 11 days ahead of the actual solar time. Let’s see: November 11 plus 11 days equals — November 22! Their November 11 would be our November 22. (Yeah, it’s not exact, but in this, as in so much else, I blame FDR.)