After 66 days crossing the stormy Atlantic, 104 Pilgrims set foot on this great land in the winter of 1620, settling in Plymouth. Governor William Bradford described their arrival: “They fell upon their knees and blessed the God of heaven, who had brought them over the vast and furious ocean, and delivered them from all the perils and miseries thereof, again to set their feet on the firm and stable earth, their proper element.” 
The winter was bitter, and sadly, within four months scurvy, pneumonia, and a virulent strain of tuberculosis had cut down whole families of Pilgrims. As the sickness raged, only six or seven persons were able to tend to the sick and comfort the dying. Scarcely 50 survived! 
Then one day in April, an unannounced tall and powerful warrior, Samoset, strode into their camp and greeted them in English with the word, “Welcome!” He introduced the Pilgrims to Massasoit, Chief of the Wampanoagtribe, and to Squanto, the last known survivor of the Patuxets who were wiped out by epidemics during 1615 – 1617. 
Squanto, who had been kidnapped and lived for 9 years in England, also spoke English. Squanto returned to Plymouth on Capt. John Smith’s voyage in 1614. Within a few weeks, he was lured and captured by the notorious, Thomas Hunt, and was taken to Malaga, Spain, a major slave-trading port. Squanto was bought and rescued by local friars and was introduced to the Christian faith. Ultimately, he returned to New England in 1619, six months before the Pilgrims landed.  
When he met the Pilgrims, having no family, he asked them, “May I stay with you? I can help you. I know where you can find foods in the forest.” Squanto, a type of the Biblical Joseph, taught the Pilgrims to trap eels, stalk deer, plant pumpkins, refine maple syrup, discern both the edible herbs and those good for medicine, and also to plant corn. After all, he was a survivor and he showed them how to survive! By autumn, 11 houses lined the street of Plymouth Colony and the harvest was good.  
To celebrate, Squanto and the Pilgrims invited Massasoit and 90 braves to a harvest festival. A hunting party shot enough waterfowl to feed the company for a week. The Native Americans, in turn, went out and brought back five dressed deer, and more than a dozen wild, fat turkeys, and showed them how to make fluffy, white popcorn! It was a feast of venison, roast duck, roast goose, clams and other shellfish, succulent eels, white bread, corn bread, leeks, watercress with wild plums and dried berries. These were all enjoyed with wine made from wild grapes. 
It was a feast of Thanksgiving, of thankfulness to God for providing all their needs and for sending them Squanto. Though the Pilgrims had suffered great losses and hardships, they were also aware of God’s great blessings. Thanksgiving truly is a profound gesture of the human heart and most communal. Its presence creates a universal bond that transcends differences throughout the world.

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