Tofu! Please finish your breakfast first.
No! I want to play first. I don’t like it anyway.
Tofu, it is not nice to leave your food like that
You should be thankful to your food and eat it respectfully.
This is a very old story
It is from the year 1620
when a group of pilgrims came from Europe in a ship called the Mayflower
to the East Coast of United States
We have reached this new land and we shall make it our home now
Let us call it Plymouth.
Yes
and this big rock by which Plymouth is recognized
will be called the Plymouth Rock
We shall make a settlement here
And so the pilgrims got busy trying to make a settlement in their new home
But they had arrived in the peak of winter with little resources and no food.
Oh! This is such a difficult winter. We have almost no food
The men go and catch whatever fish they can find in the freezing lakes
but it is not always enough.
Yes, and a sickness has taken over our people
We have lost so many strong men and women already
It is very difficult without proper food and supplies to take care of them.
Yes, look at what happened to our brother James Chilton and his wife
They’ve both died, leaving behind little Mary Chilton
Poor Mary. She is only 13 years old
But without her mother and father to take care of her
we will have to make sure she is safe.
And so Mary was taken under the care of all the other Pilgrims
But it was a hard sickness
And people died from extreme cold, lack of food
and the sickness that had come over their settlement.
This meant Mary had to work hard
Many of the older women amongst the pilgrims had died
and the remaining work had to be shared by everyone
Mary took care of cooking and laundry for the men
and boys whose wives or mothers had died.
Then, one day in March
two strangers called Samoset and Squanto
visited the settlement.
They were native Indians who lived on the land
Hello settlers! Welcome to your new home
Thank you. Who are you?
I am Samoset. I am the leader of the Abenaki people
And this is Squanto from the Wampanoag tribe.
Hello Samoset and Squanto
How is it that you speak such good English?
I have had experience with other settlers who know English
We see that we are having trouble with food
Squanto here can teach you how to grow food on this soil.
And so the pilgrims made new friends
and learnt how to grow food in their new home
they learnt that using fish as fetilizers will help their crops grow better
With the help of Squanto and other people of his tribe
the pilgrims grew a healthy crop of beans
pumpkins
and corns
To celebrate the Harvest, the pilgrims invited
King Massasoit of the Wampanoag tribe to the feast
King Massasoit’s men helped the settlers hunt for the feast
And large feast of corn
roasted meat
pie, fruits was laid
The pilgrims dedicated this day to getting together with friends and family
and thanking God for the abundance of good food
and loving people in our lives.
I get it now Tia. We should be thankful for the abundance of food we have
I shall respectfully eat whatever served to me.
That is so wonderful Tofu! I am proud of you