The Very First European Thanksgiving in the U.S. by Mary Louise Sanchez

As a young child growing up in the 1950s we learned about the First Thanksgiving, complete with the trappings of Pilgrims and Indians. I remember building a ship out of large wooden blocks in kindergarten and sitting in our chairs inside the structure we created. It was called the Mayflower.

Jean Leon Gerome Ferris-THE FIRST THANKSGIVING

Another strong memory is learning to play a piano piece from the John Thompson series.  The beginning words to the song were, "The year 1620 the Pilgrims came over. . . ." Now I know the song is more familiar as the Dutch Christian hymn, "We Gather Together" and the beginning words are the same as its title. 

I also sang "Over the River and Through the Woods" from the music books my classmates and I used in our elementary music classes.

In my own family, we enjoyed the traditional American style Thanksgiving.  The smell of yams baking always brings back a memory of when my sister and I were allowed to camp out in our kitchen overnight, as the smells of Thanksgiving permeated our little fort.

 Earlier smells of roasted chiles in the fall were brought to our Thanksgiving table and the tables of our gente (Hispanic close and extended family) through the fresh green chile side dish, with just the addition of salt and a hint of garlic.

Now I can appreciate the significance of fresh green chile, which we always include in our Thanksgiving meal. I give thanks to the Native Americans who introduced this food to the Spaniards over 400 years ago so that in this present day we can enjoy it almost daily.

Chile (green and red) brings an image to me of the first encounter of Native Americans of the Southwest and my ancestors, the European pilgrims from Spain via Mexico. This encounter was an occasion for Europeans to celebrate the very first Thanksgiving in present day United States.

After years of Spanish exploration, the Spanish government, under King Philip II of Spain, decided to send soldiers and their families from Zacatecas, Mexico (New Spain) to colonize further reaches of New Spain, or as we know it today—New Mexico.

 Juan de Oñate was awarded the contract to lead the expedition to the new land where Franciscans had started missionary work.

The colonizers included about one hundred and thirty Spanish soldiers, many with their families, as well as their servants, for a total of around four hundred people. There were also seven thousand head of livestock, eighty-three carts, and materials to start new lives.

Some of the statues commemorating Onate's expedition- Albuquerque, New Mexico Museum of Art & History

Unlike the English Pilgrims of 1620, who came via the Atlantic Ocean on ships,  the Spanish colonizers made a hard journey along a desert route, known today as the Camino Real.  

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At least twenty two years before the English Pilgrims landed on Plymouth Rock, these colonists arrived at a place near present day El Paso  on April 30, 1598. On that Ascension Day, which is a holy day on the Catholic Church calendar, Juan de Oñate, on the south bank of the Rio Grande, made a formal declaration that this land belonged to Spain and the colonizers gave thanks to God.

Later in May the expedition entered present day New Mexico and established their first capital which they named San Juan de los Caballeros. Just as in the story of the English Pilgrims and the Indians, the Spanish introduced their foods to the native Americans of New Mexico. These natives, in turn, introduced their foods to the Spanish colonizers. One of those foods was—chile. 

Do you have a food on your Thanksgiving or holiday table that gives a nod to your culture and/or traditions?

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Celebrate #Diversity during #HispanicHeritageMonth #HHM

September 15 through October 15 is Hispanic Heritage Month! Some 55 million people in the United States identify as Hispanic, making this the second largest ethnic group.

Why September 15 to October 15? September 15 marks the anniversary of the independence of five Latin American countries: Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, and Nicaragua. In addition, Mexico celebrates its independence on September 16 while Chile’s anniversary is September 18.

According to the US government, “The Library of Congress, National Archives and Records Administration, National Endowment for the Humanities, National Gallery of Art, National Park Service, Smithsonian Institution and United States Holocaust Memorial Museum join in paying tribute to the generations of Hispanic Americans who have positively influenced and enriched our nation and society.”

In the Americas, many Hispanic people can trace their roots back to indigenous peoples. These include the Maya, Inca, Aztec, and others. Today’s Hispanics may also have roots in the Spanish explorers, the Africans who were brought to the New World as slaves, and of course many other cultures.

This provides teachers, librarians, homeschooling parents, and students many options for exploring Hispanic heritage in the Americas.

Middle Grade Novels and Nonfiction

Unfortunately, there aren’t many historical fiction novels about the Maya for young people. This National Geographic post only lists my novel, The Well of Sacrifice, and Seven Serpents Trilogy—Book 1, The Captive by Scott O’Dell as historical fiction for young people. It also lists a couple of travel books and titles on Mayan prophecy and myth.

Terra Experience has an extensive page of “Children’s Books on Mayan Culture, Guatemala, Southern Mexico, Nicaragua, and Latin America.” This site lists many books about current or historical Mayan people, plus Mayan legends and folk tales. Most of the books are for younger children, but picture books can work for middle grade students as well!

A Book In Time has a list of some Books on Early American Civilizations: Inca, Aztec, Mayan, & other Native Americans.

School Library Journal has a post from 2009 on The Aztecs, the Inca, and the Maya: Empires Lost & Found, with fiction and nonfiction for different grades, pus links to Museum Collections

Resources

 

To learn more about Hispanic Heritage Month, visit the following sites:

The National Education Association provides Lesson Plans, Quizzes, Activities and Background Resources for National Hispanic Heritage Month, Grades K-5.

The US government site for National Hispanic Heritage Month includes resources for teachers and a calendar of events, mainly in and around Washington DC.

The National Endowment for the Humanities has lesson plans and links to websites on the conquistadors, the gold rush, the US-Mexican War, prayer to Ricoh, and much more. A featured lesson plan is for Esperanza Rising: Learning Not to Be Afraid to Start Over (also available inSpanish).

The PBS Hispanic Heritage Month site links to episodes about famous Latinos, issues affecting immigrants, and much more.

Scholastic offers resources for celebrating the month, including information on Latinos in history and Hispanic history in the Americas. Scholastic also has Bring Hispanic Heritage Month to Life: A Collection of Resources and 24 Great Ideas for Hispanic Heritage Month.

Hispanic Heritage Month includes information on the history of the month, people, events, and fun facts.

Please add any recommended books or resources in the comments.

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Chris Eboch’s novels for ages nine and up include The Eyes of Pharaoh, a mystery in ancient Egypt; The Well of Sacrifice, a Mayan adventure; The Genie’s Gift, a middle eastern fantasy; and the Haunted series, about kids who travel with a ghost hunter TV show, which starts with The Ghost on the Stairs. Her writing craft books include You Can Write for Children: How to Write Great Stories, Articles, and Books for Kids and Teenagers, and Advanced Plotting. Learn more at www.chriseboch.com or her Amazon page, or check out her writing tips at her Write Like a Pro! blog.

Mary Louise Sanchez:The Battle of the Bulge

Since it's January, many people may think this post addresses weight loss. I am Mary Louise Sanchez, and yes, I need to fight the battle of the bulge too. However, our blog addresses middle grade historical fiction books, so I'd like to commemorate the seventieth anniversary of the Battle of the Bulge that took place from December 16, 1944 – January 25, 1945, and was Hitler's last gamble to win WWII.

Google Images - thenewstalkers.com

He wanted to recapture the port of Antwerp, Belgium and believed the Allied forces, especially the Americans, were not strong in the western part of Europe and so decided to attack them in the heavily forested Ardennes region, primarily in Belgium and Luxembourg but also in Germany and France. 

Hitler's plan was to split the allies in their drive towards Germany in a surprise attack by using the bad weather, which his meteorologists forecast; frozen roads to enable the German tanks to press forward; and  the special forces Panzer units.

The initial attack by the Germans caused a bulge in the Allied front line, thus, this offensive became better known as the Battle of the Bulge, rather than the Ardennes Offensive.  Because the Nazis needed much fuel for this offensive and the allied air power destroyed most of the supply, the mission was doomed from the beginning. Hitler also underestimated the camaraderie of the allied forces, and clear skies on December 23, which allowed Allied planes to drop supplies for the divisions. 

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Sometimes we get caught up in the Invasion of Normandy at D-Day, but forget or don't know that the Battle of the Bulge was the largest battle fought by the Americans in World War II. 600,000 American troops were involved in the battle. The Americans lost 81,000 men, while the Germans lost 100,000 killed, wounded and captured soldiers.

January 27, 2015 is also an important book anniversary, because two bloggers, Valarie Budayr and Mia Wenjen, have joined forces for the second year on the website, Multicultural Children's Book Day,  to raise awareness about the need for books that celebrate diversity; and to get these books into the classrooms and libraries. 

To recognize both the Battle of the Bulge and Multicultural Children's Book Day, I highly recommend Dog Tags-Prisoners of War by C. Alexander London published by Scholastic Inc. in 2013 for our middle grade and older readers. Boys, in particular, will thank you for adding this paperback book, from the Dog Tag series, to your collection of war books.

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  I've been researching the Battle of the Bulge lately for my work-in-progress set in 1944 and 1945. Thus, I recognized many instances in the story where the author embedded research into the story.

In the book I learned that dark skinned American soldiers, who were not African American, were rounded up with their Jewish American brothers in arms and sent to concentration camps. This story was inspired by the life of Anthony Acevedo, a Mexican American medic. 

The protagonist of the story is an Hispanic medic, Miguel Rivera, from Albuquerque, New Mexico. (Some of my direct ancestors founded this settlement in the 1700s and you can see their names on a mural in Old Town). The  new friend Miguel is trying to save from the German captors, using their own dog, is Mike Goldsmith, a Jewish American from New York. I give the author kudos for making his protagonist Hispanic. In my research of the Battle of the Bulge, for my work-in-progress, Ken Burns made no mention of the important role Hispanics played in WWII in his book and his PBS special, based on the book. 

To put my research to work, in 2015 I will be posting information about WWII historical fiction and nonfiction books I've read. As I've been reading  about the Battle of the Bulge, I have to remind myself that my husband was only six months old at the time and I wasn't even born.

Be sure and tell me some of your favorite WWII books.