Thanksgiving: Five Kernels of Corn

Most of us will enjoy their Thanksgiving dinner today and might need to add a notch or two to their belts. But what’s Thanksgiving all about? It’s one of the few holidays that nearly all Americans still rally around, with some important exceptions.

Interestingly, myth surrounds this classic American holiday as much as any tradition. Most of these myths are pretty benign. For example, we often picture the Pilgrims with those big top hats, oversized belt buckles and black outfits with white stockings. While the time period is correct, the fashion isn’t. This fashion — or lack thereof — is actually from Quakers, not the Pilgrims. Pilgrims of that day would have worn every day type clothing of the period — typical for most Separatists.

Another myth is a little more important. Contrary to popular belief, the Pilgrims did not flee to the New World to get away from England. They left England because they believed that the Anglican church was too far gone to be changed… After all they were Separatists. They left England and went to the Netherlands.

There, they realized that they couldn’t have much of an impact. Truth be told, they were bored. After much prayer and discussion, they decided to leave for the New World. They would head to the port at Southampton. There, the travelers acquired two ships for their journey, The Speedwell and the Mayflower. Because their funds were limited, the ships they acquired were… well… not really all that seaworthy. In fact, one of the ships sprang a leak before they could even leave. Alas, the Speedwell never got past the harbor.

That left only one ship for 120 people to travel the North Atlantic. The larger of the two, the famous Mayflower was still a tiny ship that was no bigger than a volleyball court. The small size of their craft seemed even smaller as their journey lasted 66 days over dangerous, stormy, rough seas. In fact, it was so stormy that one man woke up one day to find that his jacket was missing. He looked around and found that it was being used to tie down the lever of the large screw printing press they brought along… which was holding up the mast of the ship that broke during a storm!

Though it all, their faith was unshakable. One of the sailors had mocked the pilgrims (who never did come above deck) on how they were “psalm-singing pukestockings.” Tragically, that sailor died when he fell overboard. The Pilgrims prayed that his soul would be saved. They were thankful every time that a fish would come through the opening between the boards on the hull (we’re quite certain that thanksgiving wouldn’t be first on our mind if we saw fish pouring in through a gaping hole in the hull). Indeed, it was a journey of pure hell. But their faith — and the Mayflower saw them through.

When they arrived — far north of where they were supposed to be in what is now Massachusetts — they realized their charter was not for that area, so they wrote their own — the Mayflower Compact. Once they arrived on the shore, they met a single native — a rather large, intimidating man — who actually greeted them in English!

“Have you got any beer?” the man asked. Of course they didn’t have any beer. Since beer at the time was cleaner than water, they had consumed all of it on their journey.

“No,” they replied. “But we do have some brandy.” They introduced themselves to Samoset, who soon left to find better help for them. He knew of just the person. They landed in an area which a particularly hostile tribe of Natives lived. Strangely, they died out from disease a few months before the pilgrims arrived. Only one survivor lived. His name was Squanto. The reason he survived was that he had left the tribe before the plague hit. When he returned, he was devastated to find that his people were gone.

Squanto was convinced by Samoset to help this fledgling colony of strangers from afar. Because of his help, they survived three years of harsh weather and trials. He taught them to plant corn, which had become a valuable commodity. At one point, they were in such dire straits they rationed out five kernels of corn for each person.

But then, as if by the grace of God, their trials began to subside. After three long years, what was once famine eventually became a feast of sheer abundance. They feasted for three solid days… and gave thanks to God for their new found bounty.

However, before that feast began, they all received five kernels of corn on their plate as a reminder of where they had come from, and in honor of those who had died. They were later taught how to take dried corn (since they had so much of it) and roast it in a pan which suddenly turned into this fluffy white snack. Not long after that, they learned about quarterbacks and wide receivers. Okay, we’re kidding. But the popcorn story is true.

Their faith kept them, Their hope sustained them, and their passion drove them. This Thanksgiving, let’s remember that we, too have had our struggles, trials, and dark times. Maybe we can start our feast with those five kernels of corn… and truly give our thanks for all we have. Truly, we do indeed have much for which to be thankful.

There’s one group, though, that considers this to be a day of mourning — Native Americans. Most of us don’t think of “Indians” except to see who’s going to dress up as Squanto for the local Thanksgiving pageant, but there’s obviously much more to this reality. Thankfully, the Pilgrims treated Samoset, Squanto, and their native neighbors with a great deal of respect, but it wasn’t long before new arrivals into the New World would re-introduce centuries of treacherous behavior — eventually leading to the horrors of the Trail of Tears, which cuts through just north of here.

We’re reminded that we cover stories of local heritage throughout our Warioto region. Of course, the Warioto is the name that the Shawnee tribe gave to what we now call the Cumberland River. Every year brings more discovery and more revelation of just how deep the culture was before we came along — and every year brings more understanding of just how important it is for us to not only remember our Native neighbors, but to continue to recognize their importance in overall American history and culture.

The Pilgrims knew to humble themselves and ask for help from those who truly knew the land. Perhaps it was that same humility that guided them on a two-month journey on the stormy North Atlantic. It was that humility that gave them the courage to look beyond themselves to eventually survive — and even thrive.

Sadly, their descendants and successors lost that humility — and introduced deception, abuse, exile, and even massacre into the mix of their relationships with Natives. They even took on new and offensive names for certain tribes (Sioux, for example, means “little snakes” in French; their true tribal name is Lakota)

Every Thanksgiving brings a time where families gather around ridiculously large portions of turkey and dressing, cranberry, and corn. Would it be appropriate for us to remember those for whom this is a day of mourning?

Those five kernels of corn were a memento to the Pilgrims of just how close they came to extinction. Perhaps we should consider that a very critical reason why they didn’t become extinct — and that part of our thanksgiving should be to our Native American neighbors.

As always, happy Thanksgiving from all of us at Business Clarksville!