At this time of year, we start to plan for Thanksgiving.

The story of the "First Thanksgiving" is part history and part myth. We´ve been fed with the story of the first Pilgrims over and over and it´s a nice story but not the whole truth.

The Native Indians used to celebrate several "Thanksgiving" ceremonies in a year. These were tied to nature and its changes and thereby a logical and neccessary compliment of life. So it seems there is another background for giving thanks to add to the story about the "First Thanksgiving" and the founding of the Plymouth Plantation. The mix of myth and history about the "First Thanksgiving" at Plymouth developed in the 1890s and early 1900s and from that period it went down through the decades.

Native Indians in the Eastern Woodlands lived on hunting, fishing, gathering and planting of corn. It was practise to "Give Thanks" for a good hunt, for corn harvested, for bountiful gatherings of herbs and berries. They believed that everything in Nature was created by the Great Spirit and it was their due to thank him for all he gave them, so that they could survive.

This kind of thanksgiving ceremonies or feasts, were common also in other parts of the world; India, China, Early & Middle Age Europe etc.

Learn more:

http://www.ewebtribe.com/NACulture/articles/thanksgiving.html