The local government thought they might be making trouble, so a group of about 90 armed men headed down to the refugee encampment, expecting a fight, but hoping to maintain the peace that their leader had negotiated with their new neighbors.
When they arrived, they found the white men 'feasting' on the small birds they had been hunting, and on the corn that they had learned to grow from Tisquantum (also called "Squanto," who learned English after he had been captured and enslaved by British "explorers" as a child, but that is another long story).
Ousamequin (better known by his title, Massasoit, which means Great Sachem), having on other occasions saved the white men from disaster, took pity on their humble feast, and ordered his men to bring from the Wampanoag families and petty sachems an offering for the celebration, and for three days they held their feast together.
Years later, Abraham Lincoln (known, like every US president, as the 'Great Father' to First Nations people) would reflect on the fact that despite the chaos of a crippling civil war, at least he could be grateful for the fact that no European power had tried to exploit the spreading weakness of the American experiment.
Knowing that history would one day become tradition and culture, Lincoln declared that on the last Thursday in November, the entire nation should take a break to give thanks to God for the peace, the providence, and the prosperity that our nation enjoys, even in the most difficult of times.
On this day of plenty, I pray that you and your family can enjoy the generous hospitality of a Great Sachem, and the gratitude and wisdom of a Great Father.
Happy Thanksgiving
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