Here's what we know: In the early 1620s a group of religious separatists called Pilgrims settled in an area now known as Plymouth. Early on, they endured numerous hardships. The winter was fierce, they had trouble gleaning crops from the land and they struggled with their hunting techniques. Roughly half of them died in the first year at Plymouth.
Enter Squanto and Samoset, a pair of American Indians who belonged to an area tribe and already knew English from past encounters with Europeans. The two natives, along with their tribesmen, taught the pilgrims valuable lessons about farming, hunting and how to build suitable shelters.
The next year, 1621, the Pilgrims' harvest was a good and they decided to hold a feast, inviting members of the native tribe to join. The feast lasted for three days and included wild fowl, venison, dried fruit and a great deal more. Thanksgiving, as we know it, was born.
Here's what many of us might know, but probably won't think about while gorging ourselves on turkey and mashed potatoes tomorrow: The rapport between English settlers and American Indians was short-lived. Not long after the first Thanksgiving feast took place, the settlers became fairly independent and no longer needed aid. They began to look down on native religions and ways of life. Land that once belonged to American Indians was claimed by colonists and the process that eventually forced American Indians throughout the country from their homes began.
Since Abraham Lincoln declared Thanksgiving a national holiday in 1863, it has been a time when many families come together and celebrate the good things in their lives. Among American Indians, however, the holiday can have very different connotations.
"It's like the designated point in time during the year when folks think about Indians," said George Cornell, a professor of history and director of the Native American Institute at MSU. "It's such an interesting popular connection: Pilgrims and Indians and kids in elementary schools acting out plays."
Cornell said people should pay attention to the situation of native peoples throughout the year.
"We just went through a major national election," he said. "How many Indian issues were discussed? How many Indians did you see as part of these debates asking questions about federal Indian policy? We don't even discuss the relationship, but come Thanksgiving, it's like 'Gee. I wonder how Indians are.'"
Despite cynicism toward the holiday, Cornell said he will celebrate Thanksgiving with food and family, as most others do.
"Nowadays if you put it into context, it's nice for everybody to get time off and share food with their family," he said. "Everyone enjoys that no matter what they call it."
Holly Newland, public relations representative for the North American Indigenous Student Organization (NAISO) at MSU, also celebrates Thanksgiving in a typical manner.
"Thanksgiving is huge at my house," said Newland, who is half American Indian. "It's my dad's birthday and my family members are huge (Detroit) Lions fans."
Similarly, NAISO Powwow Co-Chair Ashley Harding has always enjoyed celebrating Thanksgiving in an American fashion. Her family members - who are scattered throughout the country - come together in her Arizona home to spend time with one another.
"It's how every family celebrates it," Harding said. "We gather from everywhere and just come together."
English Professor Gordon Henry, however, has a different take on Thanksgiving. A member of the Chippewa tribe, Henry said he doesn't treat Thanksgiving much different than other days.
"For Indian people, as I understand it, every day should be a day of thanksgiving," he said. "Every time we eat we remember our relatives and give thanks for the things we have. There are many times of the year when we do that."
Henry said for past Thanksgivings, he has held a sweat ceremony - a ritual for purification that is similar to sitting in a sauna - in the morning and spent the remainder of the day with family.
"I have some political misgivings about the holiday in terms of what's happened historically with native people," he said.
For Patrick LeBeau, an American Indian and associate professor in writing, rhetoric and American culture, the prevalent image of the original Thanksgiving presents problems.
"The way native peoples are exploited in the image of the celebration is problematic simply because it perpetuates a stereotypical image," LeBeau said. "It's not the actual ritual of Thanksgiving that's bad in terms of getting together with family and friends, it's where Indians come in and they are perpetuated in this image of the past.
"Thanksgiving should not necessarily be an image of natives, it should be an image of family."
Some American Indians in the MSU community have a fairly accepting attitude toward Thanksgiving, but there are those that consider the holiday more of a travesty than a cause for revelry.
"I know people who really do see this as a day where they choose to distance themselves from the holiday," said Henry, recounting an instance when a past co-worker became mildly upset when he mentioned the holiday.
And negative feelings about Thanksgiving can amount to more than simply ignoring the holiday.
Each year, many American Indians and others gather in Plymouth, Mass. on Thanksgiving for the "National Day of Mourning." Begun in 1970, the protest seeks to present Thanksgiving as a tragedy and forerunner to European colonization of America.
In 1997, the event erupted in violence due to clashes between protesters and Thanksgiving re-enacters. The incident remains the sole outbreak of violence in the protest's history.
Thanksgiving traditions and viewpoints vary as much as America's citizens. But no matter how one spends the fourth Thursday of November each year, Henry said every American should take some time to reflect on the historical context of the first Thanksgiving and its aftermath.
"It would be good for us all to think about how American Indians, back in the time the settlers came, gave in the spirit of giving so that others who didn't have could share in the plenitude of life," he said. "Making these kind of cultural links is important."
Dirk VanderHart is the State News enterprise reporter. Reach him at vande227@msu.edu
