P.G. YMCA Indian Guides and Princesses
Bowie, Maryland

November 2001                                                     Patuxent Nation
 

Greetings to All!!!    We just finished our Nation event - Pumpkin Patch/Hayride at Darrow Berry Farm.   It was a somewhat chilly afternoon taking the haywagon out to the pumpkin fields.  There were so many pumpkins to choose from.  It looked like everyone got a good pumpkin to carve for Halloween.  What did your pumpkin look like this year?  Check out more pictures on our website…….  http://www.geocities.com/TimesSquare/Fortress/9106/

How was your Halloween?  What did you go as?  Did you get lots of yummy food?   I took my Indian guides out this year.  Princess Morning Dove was a Ballerina  while Crouching Cougar was a Frozen Man.  Did you get a chance to see the full moon on Halloween?  Did you know the next full moon on Halloween won’t be until the year 2020.

Our two tribes have had their tribe meetings once again.  The Chitimacha’s made beautiful fall collages from  a collection of leaves, nuts, berries, sparkle and colored glue.  The new tribe has proudly named themselves the Piscataway.  The Piscataway were a tribe located in what is now Maryland.  They  lived not in tepees, but in small houses covered with bark or rush mats.  Our group made a beautifully decorated tribe totem pole.

Fall has definitely arrived.  It is so colorful with all the leaves falling.  There is a chill in the air.  The squirrels are gathering their nuts.  The geese are flying south.  This is one of my favorite times of the year.

This month’s nation activity is the annual Sleepover at the Y.  It will be held on the night of Friday, November 16th.  We will all meet at the Y on Moylan Drive between 7 - 7:30 pm.  Pizza will arrive around 7:30.  We’ll have a special desert followed by games and movies.  We’ll be sleeping at the Y, so make sure you bring all you need.  For those older Indians, the floor of the Y can be a little hard.  I suggest you bring some padding, and/or cushion in addition to your sleeping bag.  We’ll wakeup to donuts and juice (coffee for the older Indians).  We’ll be out of the Y by 10am on Saturday.  This month’s nation event is for Indians only.   Please give me a call if you can attend @ 301-805-4640 so I can get a head count.  We are asking a $5 contribution per parent/child.

Don’t forget to bring: Sleeping Bag
   Pillow
   Padding/Cushion
   PJ’s
   Toothbrush/Toothpaste
 
 
 
 
 

Although the Pilgrims had first sighted land off Cape Cod they did not settle until they arrived at Plymouth, which had been named by Captain John Smith in 1614. It was there that the Pilgrims decide to settle. Plymouth offered an excellent harbor. A large brook offered a resource for fish. The Pilgrims biggest concern was attack by the local Native American Indians. But the Patuxents were a peaceful group and did not prove to be a threat.

The first winter was devastating to the Pilgrims. The cold, snow and sleet was exceptionally heavy, interfering with the workers as they tried to construct their settlement. March brought warmer weather and the health of the Pilgrims improved, but many had died during the long winter. Of the 110 Pilgrims and crew who left England, less that 50 survived the first winter. 

On March 16, 1621 , what was to become an important event took place, an Indian brave walked into the Plymouth settlement. The Pilgrims were frightened until the Indian called out "Welcome" (in English!).

His name was Samoset and he was an Abnaki Indian. He had learned English from the captains of fishing boats that had sailed off the coast. After staying the night Samoset left the next day. He soon returned with another Indian named Squanto who spoke better English than Samoset. Squanto told the Pilgrims of his voyages across the ocean and his visits to England and Spain. It was in England where he had learned English.

Squanto's importance to the Pilgrims was enormous and it can be said that they would not have survived without his help. It was Squanto who taught the Pilgrims how to tap the maple trees for sap. He taught them which plants were poisonous and which had medicinal powers. He taught them how to plant the Indian corn by heaping the earth into low mounds with several seeds and fish in each mound. The decaying fish fertilized the corn. He also taught them to plant other crops with the corn. 

The harvest in October was very successful and the Pilgrims found themselves with enough food to put away for the winter. There was corn, fruits and vegetables, fish to be packed in salt, and meat to be cured over smoky fires.

The Pilgrims had much to celebrate, they had built homes in the wilderness, they had raised enough crops to keep them alive during the long coming winter, they were at peace with their Indian neighbors. They had beaten the odds and it was time to celebrate. 

The Pilgrim Governor William Bradford proclaimed a day of thanksgiving to be shared by all the colonists and the neighboring Native Americans. They invited Squanto and the other Indians to join them in their celebration. Their chief, Massasoit, and 90 braves came to the celebration which lasted for 3 days. They played games, ran races, marched and played drums. The Indians demonstrated their skills with the bow and arrow and the Pilgrims demonstrated their musket skills. Exactly when the festival took place is uncertain, but it is believed the celebration took place in mid-October.