THE FIRST THANKSGIVING AS IT MIGHT HAVE BEEN.

When the Pilgrim people landed on the beach of America they soon met the people who had lived here for years and years, the American Indians.  There were many different families of Indians and they called their family groups, tribes.  For the Pilgrims, it was like taking a city boy and girl out of a downtown apartment and putting them on a farm.  Without a house, a grocery store or even food.  They were camping out with no tents, food, or supplies of any kind. 

These folks didn't know anything about camping and soon they were hungry and getting sick.  The friendly Indians, seeing that the Pilgrims were becoming ill decided to help their new neighbors.  They brought corn and showed them how to cook it.  They showed the Pilgrims how to build tents to stay warm and make lovely Indian blankets.  In the spring they taught them to plant vegetables and of course pumpkins.

The Indian Princess Sequoia and her tribe were very smart and   knew how to take care of themselves.  All their lives had been living and learning how to care for themselves off the land.  You might say they were the first true campers.  They lived in tents called tepees and kept warm with animal fur.  The Indians wasted nothing.  They only hunted animals for food and clothing.

They started fires by rubbing two sticks together to    cook and stay warm.  The Indians fished and hunted buffalo and turkeys.  When they found the Pilgrims going hungry they were kind enough to teach them how to care for themselves.  Now the turkeys were not real happy about being caught for supper so they hide as much as they could.

This guy became the pet of one of the Pilgrims called Jacob.   He named his turkey, Goober the Gobbler.  Goober was a very smart turkey and had many hiding places.  When he and Jacob were out together they had a favorite big rock they would hide behind and watch the other men and boys hunting turkeys.

Kaleb was Jacob's son and a young boy just learning to hunt.   It was kind of cute that right behind him hiding behind a small tree branch was I nice fat turkey.  Kaleb turned and spotted him and the chase was on.  After running behind him for awhile, Kaleb decided he just didn't want to shoot at the turkey.  He thought maybe he needed more target practice first and his dad would just have to catch them a turkey this year.

Kaleb decided to go to the pumpkin patch and see if the pumpkins   were getting ripe.  Their friends, the Indians had told them about a delicious pie that could be made out of pumpkins.  The pumpkin patch was hopping, they were definitely ripe and ready to be pie.  You see there are two things pumpkins want to do more than anything.  One is to be a jack-o-lantern for Halloween, the other, a pie for Thanksgiving.

Kaleb found his father in the pumpkin patch looking pretty confused.   His mother had sent him to look for the best pumpkin he could find to make one of those pies.  Suddenly, Kaleb looked over and spotted the cutest pumpkin.  He was dressed in a pilgrim hat to make himself stand out from the other pumpkins and he sure did!  Kaleb's father, Jacob, was really glad Kaleb had come along to help pick out the pumpkin.

Rachel was a special friend of Kaleb's and loved corn on the   cob!  Chief Morning Star and Princess Sequoia had a hard time keeping Rachel in corn!  Kaleb liked to show off in front of Rachel because he was kind of sweet on her.  Rachel was so pretty with big brown eyes and pretty blond hair.  Kaleb tried not to let it show but even their Indian friends could see he felt a little more than friendship toward Rachel.

Princess Sequoia made Rachel a beautiful blanket that Rachel loved so   much.  She told the Princess she would put it away and save it for a special day.  Maybe someday she would have a baby of her own to rap in the wonderful blanket.  As Princess Sequoia walked away she was so happy that her new friend was so pleased with the blanket.  It always makes you feel good to do something special for others.

Jacob wasn't having much better luck than his son.  Instead of dinner he brought the family home his new pet, Goober the Gobbler and build him a cage in the yard so he would be safe from wild animals.  This whole hunting thing wasn't working to well for Kaleb and his family.  Chief Morning Star could see what the problem was and understood.  Jacob and his family had not hunted before to survive and were just still a little to tender hearted.

Chief Morning Star sent one of his best hunters out   to get some turkeys.  In the meanwhile he started a large fire to get the Thanksgiving feast started.  The Indians and Pilgrims had decided that they had such a wonderful year of great crops that they should have a party to celebrate their great luck and give thanks for the food.  They decided to call it Thanksgiving Day.

The rain and sun that year had filled the fields with all    the food the Indians and Pilgrims would need for the long cold winter.  Everyone got together to do the cooking and help each other.  Rachel and Kaleb thought the smell of the food was wonderful and could hardly wait for the dinner to be ready.

Working together the families soon had dinner ready for all the people in the tribe and colony to sit and enjoy.  There was enough food for everyone and it was very good!  The Pilgrims had learned so much this year from their new friends the Indians.  These great people were sure to best friends forever!

Each of the groups gave thanks in their own special way and then the wonderful dinner began.  Chief Morning Star had the honor of carving the turkey.  After all it was his men who ended up doing the hunting.  They had many turkeys so the people would have all they wanted.  Kaleb found his favorite part was the drum stick.

Rachel just enjoyed a little bit of everything and of course the corn!  They were hoping to get to the pumpkin pie soon.  Kaleb couldn't wait to taste it.  Kaleb and Rachel couldn't remember ever having such a wonderful meal and to make it even better they were sharing it with people they knew would be great friends forever!

Finally, pumpkin pie time.  Kaleb and Rachel were so  excited!  Just close your eyes and imagine never having had pumpkin pie before, then tasting it for the first time.  Yum, yum, Rachel and Kaleb had found a new favorite pie, they loved it!  Rachel and Kaleb, were so glad they had learned about it from their Indian friends.

After everyone had finished dinner Rachel and Kaleb   pulled what might have been the very first wish bone.  Kaleb got the long end of the wish bone, which meant whatever he wished for would come true.  As he stood smiling at Rachel, many in the crowd thought they knew what Kaleb had probably wished for!

As the day passed Chief Morning Star sent smoke signals to all the   other tribes near by to wish them a Happy Thanksgiving.  Princess Sequoia presented Jacob and his family with a beautiful dream catcher she had made.  They are believed to catch and hold your dreams forever!  Wouldn't it be wonderful if we could catch every dream we have and never let it go?

HAVE A WONDERFUL THANKSGIVING AND REMEMBER THE WORDS OF A GENIUS MUSICIAN, WHO ONCE SAID "I HOPE SOMEDAY YOU'LL JOIN US AND THE WORLD WILL LIVE AS ONE"

                                                         JOHN LENNON