In these divisive American times, come late November, we have two solutions at hand, each part of our now 404-year-old Thanksgiving customs. One, we do Friends-giving variations of the traditional holiday. And two, the food. Arguably, we do it better than they once did.
The original, if no longer traditional, dishes served at the first Thanksgiving in November of 1621, as it turns out, did not include much turkey, if any. It was sobaheg, according to Wampanoag historian Linda Coombs. Consisting of just about anything available, sobaheg could include meats, squash, beans, nuts onions, corn and roots.
They shared the food they had with anyone who showed up — and those who showed up were not blood relatives, which meant that not just the first Thanksgiving, but the first Friends-Giving, was taking place on that chilly late-autumn day long ago…