1621: A New Look at Thanksgiving (I Am American)

"Thanksgiving, the myth, surrenders to Thanksgiving, the real story, in this collaboration of historians, scholars, and descendants of the Wampanoag people. The original event, attended by 90 Natives and 52 colonists probably lasted for three days and was held for political reasons. The village, Pauxet, now called Plymouth, was empty of its Native people who died of plague and left their fields, stores of corn, and supplies of baskets and pots. When the English arrived, they used the materials and saw them as God’s providence. The Wampanoag interpreted their use as stealing. Nevertheless, a relationship developed between the decimated Wampanoag and the settlers based on the need for a military alliance of mutual protection against show more neighboring tribes. A gathering to celebrate the harvest was traditional to both peoples but was unlikely to be called Thanksgiving or to have a religious base. Neither turkey nor cranberries were eaten at the feast. Thanksgiving as we know it today evolved from this first gathering but hardly resembles it. This handsome volume is liberally illustrated with color photographs taken at the Plimoth Plantation with its staff in costumes of the period recreating the early days. Although the explanatory text indicates that the photos are of actors, the captions often do not, which may lead to some confusion. Despite this flaw, the story is well told and brings current scholarship to young people in an accessible form. A chronology, index, and brief explanation of the historical fact-finding process increases the usefulness to teachers and students. For another example on this same subject, see Kate Waters’s Giving Thanks (below). (foreword, bibliography, photo credits)" show less

This book is an extremely illustrated picture book that gives a more measured, stable, and historically correct version of what we know to be the Thanksgiving feast. There’s about five chapters of background information on the Wampanoag Indians, on colonization, diplomacy between Indians and settlers, the harvest of 1621, and the evolution of the Thanksgiving story. After, we get a more realistic account of what the celebration was really like. The reader gets a great view of the Wampanoag side of the story as well. There’s great illustrative accompaniment of reenactments to aid the author’s argument. Though we see with this book that the Thanksgiving story most frequently told is closer to fiction than fact, the book does not show more detract from the historical importance of the holiday. I would not show this book to anyone younger than high school age; I’m afraid that if I did, it would be like telling a third grader there’s no such thing as Santa Clause or the Tooth Fairy. I, personally, liked this book, but because it borderline’s controversy, it must be taken into careful consideration what age is appropriate. This story would make for a great debate topic in high school as well. show less

Countering the prevailing, traditional story of the first Thanksgiving, with its black-hatted, silver-buckled Pilgrims; blanket-clad, be-feathered Indians; cranberry sauce; pumpkin pie; and turkey, this lushly illustrated photo-essay presents a more measured, balanced, and historically accurate version of the three-day harvest celebration in 1621.

This picture book was put together by the Plimouth Plantation living history museum and consists of long informative text blocks--about the Wampanoag people, the English settlers at what they called Plymouth, and the three-day feast shared by both cultures that forms part of the basis for the American mythology around the Thanksgiving holiday--and photographs of a re-enactment of that three-day feast put on by the museum in the fall of 2000. Fascinating and informative book.

This book is a detailed debunking of our accepted myth of the first Thanksgiving. Told with photos of a reenactment by actual descendents of those early Indians, this is the event told from their perspective, which should be considered important considering this was still their country at the time. Grace tells a story that we should all know: the real story of the origin of the holiday, which may come as finding out that Santa Claus isn't real to some, but should not ruin the meaning of Thanksgiving for anyone.

While this book does offer a new look at Thanksgiving as the subtitle promises, it's more a brief history of the interactions between the English and Wampanoag in what is now Massachusetts. Illustrated with photos from Plimoth Plantation, it's also a bit of an ad for the historic park. Other books offer more detail, but this is a good starting point for young readers.

I liked this book for a few reasons. For one, I liked the illustrations because they help students to gain an insight on different people and their traditions. While students may have a basic knowledge of Thanksgiving, this book shows a different perspective students may not be familiar with. By incorporating real photographs, this book helps students to visually gain a better insight to their perspective. Also, I liked the writing because it was descriptive. The book explains Wampanoag language by describing, “the language also reflects the philosophy that all people in the Nation are connected.” Then, it goes on to give examples and explains. I also liked the organization of the book because it describes the history of show more Thanksgiving in respects to Wampanoag and common myths. Finally, I liked that this book included a timeline because this is beneficial for students who learn best from visuals. While I think this is a great book to add to a classroom, the text may be too challenging. I think a teacher would need to read this book aloud to the class or have it as an option for the accelerated fifth graders. The big message of 1621: A New Look at Thanksgiving is to give students a different perspective of the history and traditions of Thanksgiving. show less