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I was out of town yesterday visiting relatives, and in the morning I happened to catch an interview on TV with Eric Metaxas, author of a new book relevant to the holiday.
Eric stated that before the Pilgrims came to America, it was not uncommon for European trade ships to visit. One of these trade ships kidnapped several Indians to sell them into slavery. One of these Indians was purchased by Spanish monks, who treated him well and taught him English. He stayed with the monks for five years. He wanted very much to return to his people, so they sent him back to London to try to catch a ship back to America. As Eric put it, this was like trying get a ship from the Moon back to Earth—they were very infrequent. However, the Indian was eventually able to get aboard another trade ship bound for America. He survived the voyage, ran to his home village—and found that every member of his tribe had been wiped out by disease.
He joined a neighboring Indian tribe. But the tribe had never been friendly with his; it didn’t work out; and he went to live alone in the forest.
About this time the first Pilgrims were arriving in this country. Some of them made a home on the very ground that the Indian had grown up on. Half of these Pilgrims did not survive the first years in the New World due to disease, the cold, lack of food, etc. So one day they see an Indian walking out of the forest to greet them, speaking perfect English. He teaches them the thing about planting a fish with the seed when they plant corn; he knows all about how to raise crops and about where and how to fish in that region; and with his help they become successful in the New World. The Indian was Squanto, and he was one of the original inspirations for the Thanksgiving holiday.
Eric stated that when he first heard this story, he didn’t believe it. He researched it and found original documents from contemporaries of the people involved, showing that the story is accurate. His book, Squanto And The Miracle Of Thanksgiving, tells the story in the form of an illustrated children’s book, with a religious point of view.
It’s quite an amazing story.
