When the Pilgrims crossed the Atlantic Ocean in 1620, they landed on the rocky shores of a territory that was inhabited by the Wampanoag (Wam pa NO ag) Indians.
In the Spring of 1621, the newly arrived Pilgrims were not doing well in the New World. They were living in dirt-covered shelters, there was a shortage of food and nearly half of them had died during the winter. However, they had the fortune to connect with two English-speaking American Indians, named Samoset and Squanto, who had been hunting in the area that we now know to be Plymouth, MA.
Squanto decided to stay with the Pilgrims for the next few months and teach them how to survive in this new place. He taught them how to cultivate corn and other new vegetables and how to build Indian-style houses. He pointed out poisonous plants and showed how other plants could be used as medicine. He explained how to dig and cook clams, how to get sap from the maple trees, use fish for fertilizer and dozens of other skills needed for their survival.
By the time fall arrived, things were going much better for the Pilgrims, thanks to the help they had received. The corn they planted had grown well. There was enough food to last the winter. They were living comfortably in their Indian-style wigwams and had also managed to build one European-style building out of squared logs. This was their church. They were now in better health, and they knew more about surviving in this new land. The Pilgrims decided to have a thanksgiving feast to celebrate their good fortune. They had observed thanksgiving feasts in November as religious obligations in England for many years before coming to the New World.
Captain Miles Standish, the leader of the Pilgrims, invited Squanto, Samoset, Massasoit (the leader of the Wampanoags), and their immediate families to join them for a celebration, but they had no idea how big Indian families could be. As the Thanksgiving feast began, the Pilgrims were overwhelmed at the large turnout of ninety relatives that Squanto and Samoset brought with them.
The Pilgrims were not prepared to feed a gathering of people that large for three days. Seeing this, Massasoit gave orders to his men within the first hour of his arrival to go home and get more food. Thus, it happened that the Indians supplied the majority of the food: Five deer, many wild turkeys, fish, beans, squash, corn soup, corn bread, and berries.
Captain Standish sat at one end of a long table and the Clan Chief Massasoit sat at the other end. For the first time, the Wampanoag people were sitting at a table to eat instead of on mats or furs spread on the ground.
For three days, the Wampanoags feasted with the Pilgrims. It was a special time of friendship between two very different groups of people. A peace and friendship agreement was made between Massasoit and Miles Standish giving the Pilgrims the clearing in the forest to build their new town of Plymouth. 
Now, as U.S. families gather to celebrate this year's holiday, some will remember the story of the first Thanksgiving Day. Here are a few suggestions for a more meaningful family experience:
Fix a plate with five grains of rice, corn or other grains to recall the famine suffered by the Pilgrims after they arrived at Plymouth, as well as the hunger that persists in many places worldwide.
Pass around a bowl of nuts and fresh or dried fruits at the beginning of the meal to symbolize the bounty of the harvest.
Invite each child to ask one question about Thanksgiving or American history.
Have the oldest family member light a candle before the meal to symbolize the guiding light that person provides. The youngest person should blow it out when the meal is ended.
Sources: The Center for World Indigenous Studies, The Fourth World Documentation Project and "The Thanksgiving Ceremony" by Edward Bleier (Crown, $14).
Cyrus Durey: Frontiersmen of the Adirondacks: Economic Development in Early North America
Frontiersmen of the Adirondacks: Economic Development in Early North America [NOOK Book] (ebook and paperback editions)
More at: http://www.coachingtip.com/2014/09/we-are-all-indians.html