As we approach the holiday season it is time to reflect upon the graciousness of mankind, our ability to care for one another and of course the turkey. The holiday of Thanksgiving was not established as a holiday until 1863 by Abraham Lincoln after a barrage of letters written by one Sara Hare for over forty years. The first feast, which is now seen as the model of Thanksgiving, was held in 1621 to celebrate the harvest of the colony. The feast was shared between Pilgrims and the Wampanoag tribe, and turkey in some form was probably present along with pumpkin dishes.

The turkey is a native species to North America and was probably part of the Wampanoag tribe’s diet and abundant in the area although no concrete information confirms that turkey was served. A book written by William Bradford about 20 years after the first Thanksgiving is more than likely the source for the history of turkey in Plymouth at the first Thanksgiving. The day would not have been designated by the pilgrims as a thanksgiving day as they were devout people. A day of thanksgiving would have meant a day of quiet prayer and fasting, not a feast for the harvest.

From a manuscript from the colony we know that the feast lasted for three days and was held outside as there were no buildings large enough to accommodate all of the colonists and the ninety Native Americans that were invited. In addition to venison supplied by the Wampanoag tribe, the colonists had duck, turkey and wild fowl. Edward Winslow, a colonial leader of Plymouth, sent a letter to England describing the outing called for by the governor to send “four men out fowling.” The letter was lost due to the Revolutionary war and was not returned to the United States until 1854 when it was rediscovered.

Through the use of documents and historical records we can piece together the meal or what kind of meal would have been served. Research has indicated that a wheat pudding, on the order of a Native American pudding, was likely served at the feast as a dessert. The recipe calls for the boiling of wheat to be drained after about one half hour of cooking. At this point cinnamon, salt, mace, milk, cream and sugar are added and it is then cooked for another half hour. The Pilgrims would have beaten egg yolks adding ½ a cup of the wheat mixture. After this mixture was completely combined it was added to the main wheat pot. The batch would continue cooking for five to ten minutes with constant stirring and then served with brown sugar.

In addition to the duck, water fowl and pudding dessert, the feasting colonists and Native Americans would have enjoyed cabbage which was plentiful, corn, and squash as side dishes. Cranberry sauce wasn’t invented yet and neither were mashed potatoes. Children would have helped by grinding wheat and corn into a porridge or oatmeal like side dish as the women of the colony roasted the fowl over an open flame. They did not use roaster pans , and stuffing was not practiced until later on in Thanksgiving history.

A modern traditional Thanksgiving meal

The colonists and Wampanoag tribe did not always eat together. At times they would share the feast and at others they would eat separately. Since the feast lasted for days and was colony wide, the first Thanksgiving was not held as a single celebration. The two groups of people did not speak the same language and had different customs, and the actual event may have started in a quiet or subdued manner and grown to laughter and limited communication. Regardless of the ambience of the meal, the feast has led to a national holiday marked by families and friends gathering to be thankful for the gifts this world brings to us.