Thanksgiving is just around the corner. That means it’s time to start thinking about what you are thankful for. If you ask people about Thanksgiving, odds are they will tell you all about the food, mostly the turkey, and how it is a time of giving thanks. Most people also believe they know the full background with the pilgrims, but do we really know the whole story?

On September 6, 1620 when the pilgrims signed a peace treaty with Massasoit, who was the chief of the Wampanoag tribe. The first Thanksgiving took place at the Plymouth Plantation, Massachusetts.

The people of Plymouth made a feast due to a successful season of growing crops. Today, we don’t have to grow our Thanksgiving dinners. Luckily, we go to the store to be able to feed hungry faces watching football.

After the first feast, more feasts started occurring for religious reasons and then eventually as a civil tradition. Thanksgiving is very special to many, whether it’s football, food, giving thanks, or even having the whole family together under one roof.

Massasoit had given the tribe food during the first winter because they didn’t bring enough food from England. Squanto, a member of the Wampanoag tribe, taught the pilgrims how to catch fish and grow crops, more specifically corn. Squanto acted as the interpreter during the feast. He had learned English while he was enslaved in England.

The settlers who arrived at Plymouth arrived on a boat named the ‘Mayflower’. The Wampanoag tribe is greatly attributed to helping the first settlers survive in their new land. The Plymouth settlers made a feast that lasted three days. Today, our Thanksgiving lasts only one day; three days of eating would be too much!

Next time someone asks what Thanksgiving means to you or what you are thankful for you can thank the Plymouth settlers for celebrating the first Thanksgiving.