Tuesday, November 22, 2005
Hit and myth, part two
We continue with the thankful week of 2005. From now until Thursday, we will be looking at some Thanksgiving myths, realizing that we should be thankful for the legends that lie to us through the generations.
For instance …
The Indians of the 1600s were healthy. False.
From 1616-1619 a strange disease, probably carried by the Pilgrims, killed 90 percent of the Indian population. When the Plimouth Colonie [sic] was founded in 1620, there were hardly any Indians and the founders suffered from poor spelling. The disease all but wiped out the tribes. It took five decades for the Indians to regenerate and 16 years for the founders to correct the spelling of the settlement.
And …
The Pilgrims coined the holiday’s name, Thanksgiving. False.
The word "Thanksgiving" was not applied to any feasts during the time of the Pilgrims. A 1636 law recorded in Plymouth County Records described "…solemn days of humiliation by fastings … and also for thanks giving as occasion shall be offered.” A "thanksgiving" was a religious end to a fasting period and refers to a book, W.D.D. Love's Fast and Thanksgiving Days In New England (1896), later re-titled, Sometimes You Get So Hungry You Heave.
Of course, 30 some-odd years ago today, President Kennedy was assassinated in Texas. Few were thankful for that.
For instance …
The Indians of the 1600s were healthy. False.
From 1616-1619 a strange disease, probably carried by the Pilgrims, killed 90 percent of the Indian population. When the Plimouth Colonie [sic] was founded in 1620, there were hardly any Indians and the founders suffered from poor spelling. The disease all but wiped out the tribes. It took five decades for the Indians to regenerate and 16 years for the founders to correct the spelling of the settlement.
And …
The Pilgrims coined the holiday’s name, Thanksgiving. False.
The word "Thanksgiving" was not applied to any feasts during the time of the Pilgrims. A 1636 law recorded in Plymouth County Records described "…solemn days of humiliation by fastings … and also for thanks giving as occasion shall be offered.” A "thanksgiving" was a religious end to a fasting period and refers to a book, W.D.D. Love's Fast and Thanksgiving Days In New England (1896), later re-titled, Sometimes You Get So Hungry You Heave.
Of course, 30 some-odd years ago today, President Kennedy was assassinated in Texas. Few were thankful for that.
