Indians of North America

This rhyming read-aloud with lovely pictures tells the story of the thanksgiving feast celebrated by the Wampanoag Indians and the Pilgrims in the New Plymouth Colony.

After a journey across the Atlantic, the Mayflower's passengers were saved from destruction with the help of the natives of the Plymouth region. For fifty years, peace was maintained as Pilgrims and Natives worked together. But that trust was broken with the next generation of leaders, and conflict erupted that nearly wiped out English and natives alike.

[From the publisher's description]

In October of 2000, Plimoth Plantation cooperated with the Wampanoag community to stage an historically accurate reenactment of the 1621 harvest celebration. This book describes the actual events that took place during the three days that the Wampanoag people and the colonists came together.

Nickommoh was the name the local Native Americans used to describe their harvest feast before the Pilgrims came to their shores. Nickommoh was a time to exchange clothing and food or give them away to those in need. The festival included dancing, games, prayer, song and stays in sweat lodges.

"To be a human being is an honor, and we offer thanksgiving for all the gifts of life."
This prayer of thanksgiving from the Mohawks is an uplifting and beautifully illustrated way to teach gratitude to young children. A copy of the prayer in its original kaniakehala (Mohawk) language is included.

This is the story of the first Thanksgiving from the point of view of Squanto. Squanto belonged to the Patuxet tribe. Before the Pilgrims came, he was sold into slavery by English fisherman. When he found his way home, he discovered his people were all but wiped out by disease. Yet Squanto helped the Pilgrims survive in their new land. This is his story.

Through the eyes of an exuberant Ojibwa girl, readers experience the thrill of the rice harvest and other seasonal celebrations, the daily joys and frustrations of family life in 1847, and the fearsome changes coming to her Lake Superior island home with the "chimookomanug," the white people.