{ title: 'The Big Timber Pioneer (Big Timber, Mont.) 1983-current, November 28, 2003, Page 1, Image 1', download_links: [ { link: 'http://www.loc.gov/rss/ndnp/ndnp.xml', label: 'application/rss+xml', meta: 'News about Chronicling America - RSS Feed', }, { link: '/lccn/sn83002511/2003-11-28/ed-1/seq-1.png', label: 'image/png', meta: '', }, { link: '/lccn/sn83002511/2003-11-28/ed-1/seq-1.pdf', label: 'application/pdf', meta: '', }, { link: '/lccn/sn83002511/2003-11-28/ed-1/seq-1/ocr.xml', label: 'application/xml', meta: '', }, { link: '/lccn/sn83002511/2003-11-28/ed-1/seq-1/ocr.txt', label: 'text/plain', meta: '', }, ] }
About The Big Timber Pioneer (Big Timber, Mont.) 1983-current | View This Issue
The Big Timber Pioneer (Big Timber, Mont.), 28 Nov. 2003, located at <http://montananewspapers.org/lccn/sn83002511/2003-11-28/ed-1/seq-1/>, image provided by MONTANA NEWSPAPERS, Montana Historical Society, Helena, Montana.
Serving Big Timber & Sweet Grass County, Montana Voi. 115, No. 5 - Nov. 28 - Dec. 4, 2003 For a traditional Thanksgiving first throw out the silverware By EVELYN BOSWELL \ISU Research Office -»»w- •- For a truly traditional Thanksgiving, try eating outdoors and ripping your meat apart with vour hands Share your spoon wnh oilier guests hut squash hut not potatoes or pie \.Since there was no building in Plymouth huge enough to hold everyone ami because the colonist«, possessed very lew ihairs, nearly everyone feasted outside, sealed on ihe rocky ground, likely around one of many fires,\ Billy G Snath says of the first Thanksgiving held by Pilgrims in I62I. Smith is Ihe Michael P Malone Professor of History at Montana State Unnersitv-Bo/.eman Indians and colonists mostly used their hands to eat. scooping food out of large containers and tearing meat apart manually, Smith said They drank out of common pitchers and shared spoons to ladle soupier items to their mouths. \This food consumption pattern did not result merely from the lack of forks, knives, spoons, plates and cups.” Smith said. \Instead it reflected a consciousness among both Indians and colonists that the group was more vital than the individual, the community more important than a single person. \As Euro-Americans became more individualistic in the 18th century, they changed their ways of eating correspondingly, adopting the use of cutlery, plates and cups for each person, a tradition which Americans mostly loilow today.\ Smith said. The original Thanksgiving w-as more of a secular harvest celebration than a sacred festival. Smith continued. Had it been a holy day of \Thanksgiving and Praise.\ members of Plymouth Colony probably would have spent the day attending church, praying and fasting. \Instead they invited 90 ol their non-Christian neighbors, the Wampanoag, to join them for three days of feasting, playing games, relaxing and commemorating a bountiful harvest.\ Smith said. \The Wampanoag. of course, had long observed (heir own thanksgiving festivals, like ’Nickommo.1 during which they ate. danced, engaged in sports and gave away material goods to their neighbors as a way of displaying their respect and their gratefulness for their blessings.\ The menu at the original Thanksgiving combined English and Native American cuisine. Smith said While both groups ate wild turkey, historians are only certain that they ate some type of fowl at their Thanksgiving feast. The Wampanoags may have cooked cranberries. Indian hunters also brought four deer to the festivities. White potatoes and sweet potatoes were not pan of the celebration Pumpkins and squashes were probably on the menu, hut colonists didn't produce Hour or butter and didn't have ovens. Smith said. Therefore, they wouldn't have eaten pumpkin pic. Fish, eels and oysters were available, and colonists probably cooked \Indian corn\ as Continued on pago 16 TI m m wild Thanksgiving • tabla. turkeys saam to •o far they Hava be wall on their escaped being the way to having a Happy main coursa on anyona’a (Photo by Doio Otwrty) C r a z y M o u n t a i n C h r i s t m a s ' k i c k s o f f t h e h o l i d a y s e a s o n Downtown Big Timber will be the place to be Friday. November 28, as the annual Crazy Mountain Christmas festivities officially kick off the holiday season. Offerings this year for the event include a free niovic at the Cottonwood Theatre beginning at 12:30, which will allow a break for kids and parents alike. From 1:00 to 4.00 p.m. visitors to the area will be able to have pictures taken with Santa at American Primitive on McLeod Street. If you’re not feeling very photogenic, free hay rides will also be offered during the same timeframe. Contests will also be in the mix as a w reath contest will be held, which is being coordinated by Susie Mosncss. and a tree decorating contest and auction by local 4-H Clubs. As always local organizations will be selling baked goods and crafts downtown while Big Timber businesses will feature Open Houses and holiday specials. For more information contact Kathy Kenner or Jcanc Alter at 932-5372.
