As we sit down to a modern Thanksgiving feast this afternoon, it is worth remembering this holiday has not always been the Macy’s parade, turkey-and-dressing and televised football marathon that it is today.

The first American Thanksgiving meal, held during the fall of 1621, lasted three days. It was a joint celebration between half the Pilgrims who arrived from Europe on the Mayflower the year before and 91 Native Americans. Forty-six of the 102 Pilgrims had died during their first year on North American soil. The remaining settlers would not likely have survived without the help of the American Indians.