In October 1621, when the Pilgrims conducted a harvest celebration that evolved into what we now know as Thanksgiving Day, they had a lot to be thankful for. They had survived a long and dangerous journey across the Atlantic, arriving in America in December 1620. They made it through the winter and planted a crop in the spring of 1621, though death had reduced their numbers to 53, down from 102.

They were strangers and interlopers on the shores of a vast continent, but native people who possessed the skills to live in harmony with the land taught the Pilgrims a great deal about how to keep body and soul together. Indeed, the very presence of American Indians made the Pilgrims’ survival possible.

The Pilgrims brought with them all the things they assumed they would need to make a settlement, choices based on the European world they knew, where sheep and cattle grazed in orderly pastures, where spinners spun sturdy thread and weavers wove fine cloth.

In addition, they carried their religious beliefs cradled in their hearts.

But every scrap of food, every bit of fabric, every pot, barrel and hatchet, every bed covering and petticoat had to be transported to America in enough quantities to last until the Pilgrims could manufacture those things themselves – all by hand, of course.

When the things they carried were used up or worn out, replacing what they needed to cover their nakedness, to feather their crude nests or to cook for supper was not going to be easy. They couldn’t do it without help.

I like to think that the Pilgrims figured out quickly that they had come to a land already home to clever people. The Indians knew the art of building canoes, the art of tanning hides, the art of embellishing moccasins and containers with porcupine quill embroidery, the art of fashioning a society and a civilization that had endured for thousands of years before white people arrived. They were the ones with the skills needed to shape a life from the land.

When two cultures, alien to each other, meet for the first time, the initial impulse is to recoil and retreat to what is known, safe and predictable. Understanding and appreciation come later, after many daily meetings give rise to familiarity, after the impulse for fight or flight has given way to understanding and civility.

Surely, after the initial uneasiness of the first meeting of the two diverse cultures, after the mutual strangeness had worn off, a Pilgrim woman noticed the beautiful quillwork decorating Indian moccasins. She observed the Indian women carrying things in handsome baskets made of sweet-smelling grass or crafted from thin, smooth lengths of wood. That same Pilgrim woman may have understood that when her family’s shoes wore out, she could learn from the Indian woman how to make moccasins.

A Pilgrim man may have taken note of the Indians’ birch-bark canoes and marveled at the intricacy of design and workmanship. It may have occurred to him that this mode of transportation, so lithe and dexterous in the water, was a far superior way to explore ponds and streams.

The Pilgrims had faith that God would provide – indeed, God already had provided the Indians.

Chief Massasoit and 90 Wampanoag men, who contributed five deer for the three-day feast, were guests at the Pilgrims’ harvest dinner. Those Indians shared their knowledge and skills with that small band of Pilgrims who became the ancestors of many of us.

Massasoit and his people will have a special place on the list of things I am thankful for on Thanksgiving Day. Without them, I, for one, wouldn’t be here writing this column.

Snippets

. Looking for a stocking stuffer for the needleworker in your life? Interweave Press has launched a special interest publication, Quilting Arts Gifts, geared toward those who enjoy making gifts for friends and family. I homed in on the fabric postcard, the mixed-media sampler and the journal cover projects. But needle felters will go nuts over the English country garden bag. The gift and decor projects are designed to be easy to make in small amounts of time. Look for the magazine at local bookstores and fabric shops. For more information visit www.interweave.com.

. Portions of the AIDS Memorial Quilt will be displayed 5-8 p.m. Tuesday, Dec. 11, at the Best Western Black Bear Inn and Conference Center, 4 Godfrey Drive, Orono, and 5-8 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 27, at the Eastland Park Hotel ballroom, 157 High St. in Portland. At each showing, eight 3-by-6-foot panels will be on display. The entire quilt now comprises more than 40,000 panels. Organizers say the AIDS quilt is the largest continuous community arts project in the world. For information, call Jody Leary at 624-6692 or visit hiv.doe@maine.gov.

Call Ardeana Hamlin at 990-8153, or e-mail ahamlin@bangordailynews.net.