With Thanksgiving right around the corner, everyone is in a rush to create the perfect holiday. The turkey needs to be just right, and family conflicts are expected to magically disappear with the cranberry sauce.
While we’re all for tasty turkeys and family togetherness, we can’t help but feel as if the true meaning of Thanksgiving has been lost somewhere in the history books. Like most of the holidays that dot the American calendar, Thanksgiving has become so commercialized that many children don’t know the true origin of Thanksgiving. They might have a vague idea that Thanksgiving involves Pilgrims, but they don’t realize the great triumph that Thanksgiving represents.
While Thanksgiving started out as a celebration of survival and a show of thankfulness to God, Thanksgiving was also a demonstration of gratefulness to the Native Americans who helped keep the Pilgrims alive during their first winter in the New World. It was the local Native Americans that showed the Pilgrims the best places to fish and how to successfully grow vegetables in the unfamiliar terrain.
While there were dozens of Native Americans who helped the early Pilgrims, one of the most notable is Squanto, a Patuxet Native American Indian. While very little is known about Squanto’s life, the amount that is known is nothing short of remarkable. Captured and enslaved by Europeans three different times during his life, Squanto finally returned to his home in America only to be greeted by the news that his entire tribe had been killed by a disease spread by European explorers.
Despite the overwhelming loss of his tribe and multiple enslavements at the hands of the Europeans, Squanto became invaluable to the Pilgrims, being described by William Bradford as a “special instrument sent by God for their good beyond their expectations.”
In an effort to explain Squanto’s life in a way that is both educational and engaging for children, Focus on the Family Radio Theatre has produced an audio dramatization of Squanto’s life. The dramatization focuses on Squanto’s life from the time he was first captured and enslaved to his premature death.
Despite dealing with what could be considered heavy and controversial subject matter, Focus on the Family does a good job of expressing what happened to Squanto and his tribe without sugarcoating the truth or being too graphic.
Overall, the Squanto dramatization created by Focus on the Family is a must listen for anyone who wants to give their children the opportunity to learn about the true meaning behind Thanksgiving. Or, take the advice of one Amazon reviewer who says “[m]y children and I listen to this as a Thanksgiving Tradition now.” And not only is it a great way to spend Thanksgiving, it’s also a great way to give children a history lesson without them even knowing it.
To learn more about the Squanto dramatization, click here to view the Amazon page, or click here to visit the Focus on the Family site.
