First graders re-enact first Thanksgiving

At the "first" Thanksgiving celebration in 1621, the Wampanoag Indians just showed up, but at Plains Elementary School, the Native American participation was planned and welcomed.

Denise Montgomery's first graders decided to have a re-enactment of the famous feast that was held 398 years ago in Plymouth Colony (modern day Massachusetts) Friday afternoon in their classroom. The kids had the choice of being Native American or pilgrim. Only 6-year-old Palmer Revier chose to be a pilgrim. The remaining 15 boys and girls were Indians and like the original feast, outnumbered the pilgrims.

"I wanted to be an Indian because they helped the pilgrims," said Colt Browning, 7. Chad Burnaroos even selected to be a specific Indian – Squanto of the Patuxet tribe – who spoke English and served as a go between the pilgrims and the Wampanoag tribe. "He showed them to put fish in with the seeds to grow the corn. He helped them a lot," said the 6-year-old Burnaroos.

The students made their own pilgrim and Indian paper hats and helped cook the meal. Montgomery let the students pick the menu items, which included turkey, mashed potatoes, corn, rolls, fruit, applesauce, and the not-so-traditional "slapjacks," a Native American dish, said Bethany Neaden, a substitute teacher who helped with the cooking.

Montgomery has been a teacher for 28 years and has held a class Thanksgiving feast nearly every year, most of the time letting the students pick the menu, which have gone from extravagant to simple. One year, they only had jerky.

This year's feast was all cooked in the classroom. Montgomery did the turkey, mashed potatoes and gravy, but all the students chipped in for the rest. They even made applesauce from scratch the morning of the feast, cutting the apples and adding sugar and cinnamon and cooking it in an electric skillet. Cindy Gumm, a Title 1 teacher, and Nichole Burrows, a teacher's aide, also helped with the event.

The students invited Wendy Tulloch's first grade class to the feast as a lesson in sharing, said Montgomery. Adults served each of the students a plate of food, and none took a bite until all were served. And before eating, the kids went around the room to say what they were thankful for. Most picked family members, but the appreciation also included veterans, friends, teachers, pumpkins, and Disneyland. They also held up their juice drinks in a toast before digging in.

Teaching about Thanksgiving is one of Montgomery's favorite subjects and she likes to give her students the real facts behind the holiday, rather than the myths and legends that have surrounded the pilgrims' adventures. "I think it's important for the kids to understand the hardships the pilgrims went through and how the Native Americans helped them," said Montgomery, who has been talking to the students about the pilgrims all November, beginning with the voyage of the Mayflower, which transported 102 passengers and included some who weren't pilgrims, or Separatists, as the religious sect was called in 1620. The pilgrims held the first famous feast on Oct. 29, 1621. Ninety Indians from the Wampanoag tribe just showed up, nearly doubling the population of 53 pilgrims, according to the diary of Edward Winslow, one of the pilgrims who later become governor.

Montgomery said it's difficult for kids of the first grade age to comprehend all the facts, but she feels that having the Thanksgiving feast at the end of the lesson surely helps them remember. "We thought a lot about the hardships of the pilgrims and hoped they would appreciate what they have."

Seven-year-old Christian Christiansen, a Wampanoag, told Montgomery that he thought the feast "went well."