The

First

Thanksgivin

g

A long time ago before Christopher Columbus, people lived in the land we now call America. They are the real first Americans. They are the

Indians.

The first Americans were hunters who traveled from place to place

to find food.

The Indians built their houses from what they could find around them. They made them from clay, trees, animal skins and even tall grass.

The first Americans had to make their clothes and shoes from animal skins. There were no stores to buy things.

While the Indians were in America some people in England were

wanting to come to this place they called “the New

World”.

England was far away from America. They had to travel by boat. It took

them a long time to get there.

The English people looked very different from the Indians.

Their clothes looked different and they did not speak the

same language.

The Indians were scared of the English when they met them for the

first time. They wondered who these strange people were and why

they had come to their land.

The Indians and the English wanted to learn about one another, but they spoke different languages.

Therefore, it was hard for them to talk and understand each other.

The English were unfamiliar with the land so the Native Americans

helped them by showing them what foods to eat and what crops to

grow.

Pocahontas was a Native American princess. She was Chief Powhatan’s daughter. Pocahontas helped the English people by bringing them

food and helping them to communicate and trade with the

Indians.

During the first year, the Indians taught the Pilgrims how to

plant crops and hunt for animals. When harvest time came, the Pilgrims and the Indians decided to give thanks and

celebrate together.

The Pilgrims and the Indians had

a big meal called a feast.

They ate turkey, deer

meat, cornbread, and pumpkin pie. This was the

first Thanksgiving.

Today, we celebrate Thanksgiving in November of each year. We give thanks

for all the wonderful things we have.

We celebrate Thanksgiving with a feast. People eat turkey, sweet potatoes, beans, squash, and cornbread. For dessert, we

sometimes eat pumpkin pie.

Produced By: Hayley Wilmouth