Happy Thanksgiving!!

In 1621, the Plymouth colonists and Wampanoag Indians shared an autumn harvest feast which is acknowledged today as one of the first Thanksgiving celebrations in the colonies. This harvest meal lebration, it was actually in keeping with a long tradition of celebrating the harvest and giving thanks for a successful bounty of crops. Native American groups throughout the Americas, including the Pueblo, Cherokee, Creek and many others organized harvest festivals, ceremonial dances, and other celebrations of thanks for centuries before the European conquest of North America.

Thanksgiving in Xela was the ultimate feast. About 20 of us gathered, mostly from the U.S. but also Europe and Guatemala. We weren't able to get our hands on a turkey, but we had more than enough to induce a state of food coma. We had salads, mashed potatoes, stuffing, mac and cheese, sweet potatoes, green beans, chicken and at least five different pies and desserts.

Thanksgiving day we also had an artisan/fair trade fair during the day and some women from a womens' association of indigenous artisans ended up staying the night here, since they live in a village a few hours away. They enjoyed their first typical american meal tremendously and also, were very curious about this tradition of ours- día de acción de gracias- especially when exactly we were going to give thanks, which never really happened because we were a large group of people of diverse backgrounds, beliefs and religions and so instead of an observable group thanks, it was more of an individual and internal thanks.