The event we now call the “First Thanksgiving” took place in the fall of 1621, one year after the Pilgrims arrived in what is now Massachusetts. Only two short records describe the event, both written by colonists. Later stories have added details that are not based on facts. The real history is more complicated.
When the Pilgrims landed, they built their homes in a place called Patuxet. This had once been a large Indigenous village, but most of the people had died from a terrible disease brought by earlier Europeans. The land had already been cleared and planted in past seasons. The Pilgrims saw this as a sign of opportunity, but they were settling on land that others had lived on for generations.
That first winter was deadly. Almost half of the settlers died from hunger, cold, and sickness. They survived the next spring only with help from nearby Indigenous communities. A man named Squanto taught them how to plant corn, find food, and survive the changing seasons. Squanto had been kidnapped years earlier and taken to Europe. He spoke English and became an important translator between the Pilgrims and the Wampanoag, an Indigenous nation living nearby.
The Wampanoag leader, Massasoit, made a treaty with the Pilgrims. He offered protection and food, and in return, expected military help against rival tribes. Both sides were trying to survive in a time of great change. The Wampanoag had lost many people to disease and saw an alliance as a possible benefit. The Pilgrims were in desperate need of help.
In the fall of 1621, the colonists gathered to celebrate their first successful harvest. When they fired guns into the air, around 90 Wampanoag men arrived, possibly thinking there was trouble. They had not been invited but were welcomed and stayed for three days. They brought deer and may have helped provide other food for the feast. There was no mention of turkey, and the word “Thanksgiving” was never used.
The Pilgrims had survived, but not only because of their own efforts. They had taken food from empty homes, stolen from graves, and depended on help they did not always return. In later years, more settlers came, and peace with the Wampanoag ended. Land was taken, treaties were broken, and violence returned.
The feast in 1621 came after a long, difficult year. It reflected a moment when two groups with very different experiences and goals shared food and space. While the celebration may have felt hopeful at the time, the years that followed would bring new challenges for both communities.