All about the ancient tribes
Ramona Peters works as a historic preservation officer for the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe of Massachusetts, which is a federally recognized Native American tribe. Native Americans were present during what is believed to be the first Thanksgiving, which took place in 1621. In her own words, the first Thanksgiving was as follows:
It was reported by two key leaders in the Plymouth Colony as a three-day feast and harvest celebration, which was attended by the colonists as well as a party of Wampanoag Native Americans, led by Massasoit, who were also there.
Thanksgiving as a festival derives from the Native American idea of giving without expecting anything in return, which is celebrated every year on November 23.
As Begley puts out, ″For the English, it was also a time to commemorate the fact that they had survived their first year in New England.″ There is a good chance that the Plymouth colonists were outnumbered by their Native American counterparts by more than two to one during the event.
The Wampanoag people have congregated annually at the Statue of Massasoit in Plymouth, Massachusetts, on Thanksgiving Day since 1970 to commemorate their ancestors and the power of the Wampanoag people. Traditions surrounding the contemporary Thanksgiving holiday began to take shape in the nineteenth century.
It was a far cry from the customary Thanksgiving feast of today, which consisted mostly of deer, maize, shellfish, and roasted pork. They participated in ball sports, sang songs, and danced.