On 11/24/10 10:17 AM, Jim T wrote:

"Bob Villa" wrote in message
...

Ask a American Indian what it means.

Jim

The feast that we now call Thanksgiving meant tricking and humiliating
the white man. The Pilgrims weren't doing well in 1621 but wanted to
show their appreciation to King Massassoit. They told Squanto to invite
Massasoit and his family to a small picnic.

They didn't realize how sneaky, greedy, and manipulative Squanto was.
Hundreds of influential warriors would have killed for an invitation
like that, so Squanto invited 90.

There were only 20 Pilgrim men, counting teens and old men. They were
scrawny from meager rations. To them, Indian men were like NBA players,
being 6" taller, muscular, and athletic. Imagine their fright when 90
warriors crashed their party.

When asked about this, Squanto told the Pilgrims it was a
misunderstanding. He claimed that in Algonquin, "family" meant "army."
The gullible whites believed him, and the Indians laughed behind their
back.

Then the leisurely, high-on-the-hog Indians humiliated their poor,
hard-working hosts by bringing in an abundance of delicious food. They
made life a living hell by staying three days, behaving as if it were a
carnival.

Naturally, the Pilgrims didn't call that Thanksgiving. What they called
Thanksgiving was a sober church service in 1623. God must have been
pretty mad about that outrageous picnic, so he sent a famine. The
Pilgrims prayed and God relented.