European Settlers
What is the name of the European Settlers who came to North American from England in the early 1600s?
Pilgrims
Who lived in America first?
Native Americans
What is a feast?
a big meal
What season was the first Thanksgiving?
Fall
What other food do people eat at Thanksgiving TODAY?
pumpkin pie, cranberries, stuffing
What season did the Pilgrims arrive in America?
Winter
How many years did the Native Americans live in America before white people came?
At least 20,000 years (30,000 at the most!)
What is a harvest?
What month was the first Thanksgiving?
November
What do people do before they eat the meal?
They say who and what they are grateful for.
What year did the pilgrims arrive in North America?
1620
Bison
What fruits were at the first Thanksgiving?
berries, apples, grapes
What day is Thanksgiving?
Thursday
What else do Americans do on Thanksgiving?
go for a hike, play or watch football, play games, watch the Thanksgiving Day parade
What is the name of the town the Pilgrims made first?
Plymouth
What yellow vegetable did Native Americans show the Pilgrims?
Corn
What vegetables were at the first Thanksgiving?
corn, pumpkins, onions, potatoes
What year was the first Thanksgiving?
1621
How do some Americans help other people on Thanksgiving?
Make food for other people, volunteer at soup kitchens, invite people to their table.
What disease did many of the Pilgrims die from during their first year in North America?
Smallpox
Summarize the accurate origins of Thanksgiving to the best of your ability based on what you have learned in History classes. (Each team gets a guess and whoever gets closest gets the points)
The “first Thanksgiving,” as a lot of folks understand it, was in 1621 between the Pilgrims of Plymouth Colony and the Wampanoag* tribe in present-day Massachusetts. While records indicate that this celebration did happen, there are a few misconceptions we need to clear up. Because of the erasure (in other words, removal and exclusion) of Native American narratives from the histories a lot of us were taught, we’ve been left with an incomplete picture of what really happened. So here’s the full story.
There’s no evidence that the Wampanoag people were even invited in the first place. An account from the time said 90 members of the Wampanoag tribe were present and makes no mention of invitations. Some experts believe that these 90 men were an army, sent by Wampanoag leader Ousamequin at the sound of gunshots (which turned out to be a part of the celebration).
In their first encounter with the Wampanoag people, the Pilgrims stole from the tribe’s winter provisions -- it wasn’t until later that Ousamequin formed an alliance between the groups. Even then, the alliance really only existed because the Wampanoag people were ravaged by diseases brought by European colonizers in the years prior. It was less about intercultural harmony and more about survival (made necessary by the actions of these settlers).
What meat was at the first Thanksgiving?
Deer and birds (NOT turkeys)
When was Thanksgiving made into a national holiday officially by the US government?
1863
How many other countries celebrate a form of Thanksgiving?
16 - United States, United kingdom, Canada, Netherlands, Japan, India, Brazil, Germany, South Korea, Liberia, Mexico, Norfolk Island, China, Ghana, Rwanda, and Poland.