#  What Thanksgiving Stories Share: Welcoming the Stranger

     Details    Jim Hightower   ![logo](https://www.citywatchla.com//templates/ja_teline_v/images/logo.png)         November 25 2015       [ARCHIVE](https://www.citywatchla.com/archive)   - [  Previous Article **Tech Titans Want to be Masters of All Your Media** ](https://www.citywatchla.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=10019:tech-titans-want-to-be-masters-of-all-your-media&catid=16)
- [  Next Article **Why Can’t We All Fight On Like USC Trojans?** ](https://www.citywatchla.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=10021:why-can-t-we-all-fight-on-like-usc-trojans&catid=16)

  ###### Typography

- [](# "Smaller Font")  ****Smaller** **Small** **Medium** **Big** **Bigger****  [](# "Bigger Font")
- [](# "Previous Font Style")  ****Default** **Helvetica** **Segoe** **Georgia** **Times****  [](# "Next Font Style")

- [ Reading Mode](# "Reading Mode")

> <a class="a2a_button_facebook"></a><a class="a2a_button_twitter"></a><a class="a2a_button_email"></a><a class="a2a_button_print"></a>[](https://www.addtoany.com/share)
>
> ![](https://www.citywatchla.com/images/stories/Nov-2015/096b.png)PERSPECTIVE--Thanksgiving is here. Let’s eat!
>
> America’s most food-focused holiday traces its roots back to the abundant feast that Pilgrims and Indians enjoyed together in the fall of 1621.
>
> Only half of the Mayflower Pilgrims who’d arrived at Plymouth Rock the previous December survived their first year in the New World. (It was “new,” of course, only to those undocumented immigrants from England — not the locals).
>
> Still, to celebrate and offer thanks for their survival, the newcomers planned a communal meal following the fall harvest. And in appreciation for being taught by the Wampanoag people how to raise corn and gather the region’s seafood, they invited Massasoit, the tribal leader, to join them in what’s now Massachusetts.
>
> He did — and surprised the hosts by arriving with 90 members of his community.
>
> But the Wampanoag party [didn’t come empty handed](http://indiancountrytodaymedianetwork.com/2011/11/22/wampanoag-side-first-thanksgiving-story-64076). In fact, they brought much of the fare for what became a three-day banquet featuring a spread that probably included venison, duck, geese, wild turkeys, eels, mussels, lobster, gooseberries, plums, cornmeal pudding, popcorn balls, barley beer, and fortified wine. And you thought *you*over-ate at Thanksgiving.
>
> This wasn’t the only precursor of our annual November food-a-palooza. Virginians assert that the truly first feast that brought together English settlers and Native Americans took place in their state, at least [two years](http://spofga.org/flag/2013/first_thanksgiving.php) before Massasoit’s show of hospitality. Texans claim that [the tradition began near El Paso](http://texasalmanac.com/topics/history/timeline/first-thanksgiving) in 1598, when the Manso and Piro tribes roasted ducks, geese, and fish over an open fire to give sustenance to a lost and bedraggled group of Spanish colonizers.
>
> Meanwhile, Floridians insist that [the firstest-of-all Thanksgivings](http://www.floridatoday.com/story/news/local/2014/11/24/florida-holds-honors-first-thanksgiving-celebration/19487907/) in what’s now the United States took place even earlier in 1565, when the Timucuan people shared a stew of salt pork and garbanzo beans with Spanish settlers at St. Augustine.
>
> Ultimately, European settlers and early Americans didn’t repay these natives with much kindness. But these historical tidbits raise an interesting question to ponder this Thanksgiving: What would have happened to those English and Spanish settlers if the Native Americans had taken Donald Trump’s advice to build “a big beautiful wall”?
>
> *(Jim Hightower is a columnist for [OtherWords](http://otherwords.org/) as well as a radio commentator, writer, and public speaker and an occasional CityWatch contributor. He’s also the editor of the populist newsletter, [The Hightower Lowdown](http://www.hightowerlowdown.org/), and a member of the Public Citizen board.)*
>
> *CityWatch*
>
> *Vol 13 Issue 96*
>
> *Pub: Nov 26, 2015*

  - [  Previous Article **Tech Titans Want to be Masters of All Your Media** ](https://www.citywatchla.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=10019:tech-titans-want-to-be-masters-of-all-your-media&catid=16)
- [  Next Article **Why Can’t We All Fight On Like USC Trojans?** ](https://www.citywatchla.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=10021:why-can-t-we-all-fight-on-like-usc-trojans&catid=16)
<div data-id="1" 
	class="eb-inst eb-hide eb-emailform eb-1 eboxContentLocker"
	data-options='{"trigger":"onPageLoad","trigger_selector":"","delay":3000,"early_trigger":true,"scroll_depth":"percentage","scroll_depth_value":80,"firing_frequency":1,"reverse_scroll_close":true,"threshold":0,"close_out_viewport":false,"exit_timer":1000,"idle_time":10000,"close_on_esc":false,"animation_open":"slideInDown","animation_close":"fadeOutDown","animation_duration":400,"disable_page_scroll":true,"test_mode":false,"debug":false,"ga_tracking":true,"ga_tracking_id":"G-P16BQ7X1SW","ga_tracking_event_category":"EngageBox","ga_tracking_event_label":"Box #1 - Global Email Signup Form","auto_focus":false}'
	data-type='popup'
	>

	<button type="button" data-ebox-cmd="close" class="eb-close placement-outside" aria-label="Close">
	<img alt="close popup button" />
	<span aria-hidden="true">&times;</span>
</button>
	<div class="eb-dialog eb-formVer" role="dialog" aria-modal="true" id="dialog1" aria-label="dialog1">
		
		<button type="button" data-ebox-cmd="close" class="eb-close placement-inside" aria-label="Close">
	<img alt="close popup button" />
	<span aria-hidden="true">&times;</span>
</button>	
		<div class="eb-container">
						<div class="eb-content">
				
<form action="https://citywatchla.us2.list-manage.com/subscribe/post?u=34d69f33624fd058ee9b56516&amp;id=4bfa422f51&amp;f_id=00d6c2e1f0" class="eb" method="post" id="mcform-1" name="mcform-1" target="_blank">
			<div class="eb-form-header"><p><img src="/images/2023/06/be-a-city-watcher.png" alt="be a city watcher" width="350" height="97" loading="lazy" data-path="local-images:/2023/06/be-a-city-watcher.png"></p>
<p>Sign up to receive our special e-news blasts on Monday and Thursday evenings!</p></div>
	
					<div class="eb-field-row">

			
			
			
			<input class="eb-input" type="email" name="EMAIL"  placeholder="Email address"  id="EMAIL" value="" required>

			
		</div>
										
	<div class="eb-footer">
    	<button class="eb-btn" type="submit" name="subscribe" style="background-color:rgba(93, 183, 93, 1);color:rgba(255, 255, 255, 1)">
    		Sign up    	</button>
    </div>
</form>			</div>
		</div>
	</div>	
</div>
<div data-id="3" 
	class="eb-inst eb-hide eb-yesno eb-3 "
	data-options='{"trigger":"onScrollDepth","trigger_selector":"","delay":0,"early_trigger":false,"scroll_depth":"percentage","scroll_depth_value":80,"firing_frequency":2,"reverse_scroll_close":false,"threshold":0,"close_out_viewport":false,"exit_timer":1000,"idle_time":1000,"close_on_esc":false,"animation_open":"fadeInUp","animation_close":"fadeOut","animation_duration":300,"disable_page_scroll":false,"test_mode":false,"debug":false,"ga_tracking":true,"ga_tracking_id":"G-P16BQ7X1SW","ga_tracking_event_category":"EngageBox","ga_tracking_event_label":"Box #3 - Yes \/ No Donation Popup Box","auto_focus":false}'
	data-type='popup'
	>

	<button type="button" data-ebox-cmd="close" class="eb-close placement-outside" aria-label="Close">
	<img alt="close popup button" />
	<span aria-hidden="true">&times;</span>
</button>
	<div class="eb-dialog " role="dialog" aria-modal="true" id="dialog3" aria-label="dialog3">
		
		<button type="button" data-ebox-cmd="close" class="eb-close placement-inside" aria-label="Close">
	<img alt="close popup button" />
	<span aria-hidden="true">&times;</span>
</button>	
		<div class="eb-container">
						<div class="eb-content">
				
<div class="ebox-yes-no">
	<div class="ebox-yn-text">
		
		
		<div class="ebox-yn-headline" style="font-size:22px;color:#888888">
			<p>If you only give once a month, would you consider giving to CityWatch?</p>
<p>Your support fuels our mission to promote and facilitate civic engagement and neighborhood empowerment, and to hold area government and its politicians accountable.</p>
<p>Would you like to help? Even if you can only give $5, it will make a difference.</p>		</div>
			</div>
	
	<div class="ebox-ys-buttons" style="font-size: 16px;">
		
<a
					data-ebox-prevent="0"
		data-ebox-cmd="close"
				target="_self"
		href="https://www.citywatchla.com/donate"
		rel="noopener"
	
	
	
	
	class="ebox-ys-btn"
	style="background-color:#2ec664;color:#ffffff;min-width:100px">
	Yes
	</a>
<a
	
	
			data-ebox-cmd="close"
		href="#"
	
	
	class="ebox-ys-btn"
	style="background-color:#ef2345;color:#ffffff;min-width:100px">
	Not Right Now
	</a>	</div>

	</div>			</div>
		</div>
	</div>	
</div>