- The pilgrim's first days
and first feast in America
are shrouded in conjecture and folklore,
like the most famous objects associated
with their landing atPlymouth, Massachusetts.
Right inside that structureis the famous Plymouth Rock.
But many folks doubtthere actually was a rock,
and if there was that,it was exactly there.
(hatchet chopping)
- [Paul] But we do know the Pilgrims
started building a small village
like this faithful recreationof Plymouth Plantation.
Even as the harsh winter of 1620
was killing half their number.
- And only had 51 of 102 people left
at the end of that season.
- [Paul] Leo Martin and his wife Nancy
not only run the faith-basedJenney Museum in Plymouth,
but also serve as Pilgrim role-players.
Martin says the survivors of that winter
went on to plant cropsthat grew well enough
they knew they wouldn't starve,
so it was time for Thanksgiving.
- They developed enough food
to make it through the next winter,
and they thought that theyought to thank God for that.
- For we desired a specialmanner of rejoicing,
the Lord having sustained us for a year
and brought in such a goodly harvest.
- [Paul] One of the only two pilgrims
to write of that firstThanksgiving was Edward Winslow.
His words about the preparationsbrought alive for CBN News
by a Plymouth Plantation interpreter.
- The very first feastthat we had in these parts,
our governor sent four men on fowling,
and in just some small hours,
them four men were ableto take enough wild fowl
to feed our company for a week.
- [Paul] In Plymouth'sannual Thanksgiving parade,
they envision the giantplump turkey's modern folks
imagine the pilgrims dined upon.
Actually their turkeyswere wild, lean and mean.
- I find that the turkeyshere of New England,
they are a bit different than those
that lived on the dunghillsback home in England,
but they are a toothsome bird.
- Another sure fact,
these grateful Englishmandidn't dine alone,
because they knew theywouldn't have made it
without the Indians or sachumsas Winslow called them.
Not only did the NativeAmericans have to show them
what could grow in thisradically different soil,
they had to teach these citydwellers from the Old World
how to hunt and how tofish and this New World.
- [Leo] They felt that Massasoit,
the Chief of the Wampanoag Indians,
was so instrumental in their survival
that they should invite Massasoitand his immediate family
to that celebration, and they did.
- [Paul] But Massasoitmisunderstood a bit.
- While we were feastingand making of sports
and exercising our arms,
amongst us come thegreat sachum Massasoit,
and about 90 of his men.
- [Paul] Martin points outthat could have wiped out
all the Pilgrim supplies,
but the chief and his braves
brought plenty of food with them.
- Venison, turkey, fish, vegetables,
and together they had enough food
for a three-day celebrationwhere they honored one another
and became better friends.
- [Paul] Norah Messier,
Plymouth Plantation's food expert.
- Most likely there was fish
on the first Thanksgiving table,
as we now refer to it, possibly lobsters.
We know that when the natives arrived,
they brought with them venison,
something not many of us put
on our Thanksgiving tables today.
- [Paul] We put pumpkin pie on our tables.
Messier showed CBN News what the pilgrims
would have done instead.
- One of the things that ofcourse most people would say,
you can't have Thanksgivingwithout your pumpkin pie.
What I'm going to be doing here
is exactly what we know theydid frequently in New England.
The ancient standing dishis called Stewed Pompeian.
Pompeian is the periodterm for the pumpkin.
- [Paul] The pilgrimswould dice it and stew it
in to a sort of a mush.
- Eventually you're going to add
just a splash of vinegarand a little bit of ginger.
And supposedly it's goingto taste like stewed apples,
something that was definitely not
on the first Thanksgiving table.
No apples in New England.
- [Paul] They were huge on stuffing,
but it took a lot more labor.
- Raisins up until recentlyhad seeds in them still.
Imagine picking out all of those seeds.
- [Paul] And they'd season it with herbs
brought all the way from England,
like thyme, hyssop and parsley.
- We believe that the things
they're growing in their kitchengardens in the 17th century
are primarily things that had been
brought over from England.
They're trying to bring home with them.
They're trying to make NewEngland feel like old England.
- Which is maybe why a fellow like Winslow
would have preferred something better
than those skinny, New England turkeys.
- In truths my greatestdelight is a goose,
for I do love it, it's great fatness.
- [Paul] Paul Strand, CBN News
reporting from Plymouth, Massachusetts.
- I'm not a big fan of goose,but I am a fan of lobster,
and that would be a goodidea for a Thanksgiving meal.
We owe a great debt tothe Native Americans.
And one of the namesthat wasn't in that story
that deserves great honor,is a man named Squanto.
He was enslaved.
He was taken by people by boat
and sold in a slave market in Spain,
and a group of monks purchased him.
They saw him there for sale andthey decided to purchase him
and then give him freedomand give him Christianity.
They taught him Christianity.
Well, he wanted to go back home,
but on the way he decided tobecome an indentured servant
so that he could earn enoughmoney to pay for the passage.
And where did he get that?
In London.
So here he is, after thatperiod, seven years later,
he gets on a boat andgoes back to New England,
gets passage back to New England,
and finds that his own peoplewon't receive him anymore.
That he's too different.
And so he decides he'llgo to where he is known.
And so Squanto comes out of the woods,
and the Plymouth brethrendidn't know what to do with him.
And then suddenly he startsspeaking to them in English,
and in what an amazing God's story
that the survival of that tiny colony
was based on someone who was captured,
taught English and thenreturned and knew enough to say,
I can help you.
I can help you hunt.
I can help you fish.
I can help you live on the land.
I can tell you what crops to plant.
These are incredible things.
We've got another story ofone of the Native Americans
who absolutely helped,
and this is hundreds ofmiles away from Plymouth.
And that is right herein Jamestown, Virginia.
Two empires were on the brink of war
until one amazing young woman
brought them together for peace.
CBN's docudrama"Pocahontas: tells the story
of the Native American princess
who has fascinated generationsof people around the globe.
You'll see her journey of faith
and how she became anambassador between two nations.
You can get a DVD of "Pocahontas"
for a gift of any dollar amount.
And the reason we're asking for a donation
is we want to accumulatefunds to pay for our latest,
which is "The Oracles of God."
We're actually shootingit right now in Israel,
and we need to pay forthose production costs.
So for a gift of any dollar amount,
you'll also get instantstreaming on 4K on CBNfamily.com.
To get it all you have to do is call us
and say "Here's my giftof any dollar amount."
1-800-700-7000, or you canvisit cbn.com/pocahontas.
