Thanksgiving Reflections
Hymn of the Week
Come Ye Thankful People Come (recording by MT Martinez)
Tune: St. George’s Windsor by George J. Elvey (1816-1893)
Text : Henry Alford (1810-1871)
I am happy to feature this well loved hymn on Thanksgiving, as it is often sung on this day and expresses many sentiments of gratitude and faith we cherish. I also wish to present a slightly different take on this holiday, by sharing some information about a Native American Christian clergyman and writer, Samson Occom (1723-1792), and by offering a contemporary perspective on Thanksgiving, with input from a young Native American friend of our family.
The composer of the tune of “Come Ye Thankful People Come” George J. Elvey, and the writer of the hymn text, Henry Alford, lived in the same 19th century English cultural and religious society. Indeed, they shared an association with Canterbury Cathedral, although at opposite ends of their lives. Elvey was a chorister at Canterbury Cathedral as a young boy, and Alford spent the last part of his clerical career as Dean of Canterbury, from 1857 until his death.
Elvey was educated at Oxford University and the Royal Academy of Music. His sole post from age nineteen until his death was as organist and master of the boys’ choir at St. George’s Chapel, Windsor (hence the name of the tune of this hymn). He composed many anthems, hymn tunes and service music, often for royal occasions, such as the wedding of Queen Victoria’s daughter Princess Louise.
Alford, on the other hand, was a scholar who was educated at Cambridge University and became a Fellow of his college, Trinity, for a time. He engaged in all forms of literary endeavor, but is chiefly known and honored, even today, for his scrupulous edition of the Greek New Testament, the result of 20 years of labor.
As we celebrate the beautiful holiday of Thanksgiving, it is a felicitous moment to think about our Native American brothers and sisters. I’d like to start by delving into the past and highlighting one of the first Native American ordained Christian ministers, Samsom Occom (1723-1792).
Occom was a member of the Mohegan nation (a tribe featured in James Fennimore Cooper’s The Last of the Mohicans), and, according to his ground-breaking autobiography, was converted to Christianity at age 16 during “The Great Awakening” by evangelical preachers. He studied theology for four years at the school of Congregational minister Eleazar Wheelock. Occom became a gifted writer and speaker himself, learning not only English, but Latin, Greek and Hebrew. The only book he owned as a young man was the Bible.
After taking up the missionary cause among Native Americans, Occom ultimately was sent by Wheelock on a preaching tour to England in 1767-68, where he raised over 12,000 pounds, the equivalent of 2.4 million dollars today. His audiences included King George III, who contributed a generous sum. The understanding Occom had with Wheelock was that the money raised would be used to found a school for the education of Native Americans, but actually Wheelock took the money and bought land in New Hampshire to establish Dartmouth College, a school for white men.
Sadly, Wheelock’s perfidy to Occom also extended to his promise to support Occom’s wife and children during the English tour; upon his return to America in 1768, Occom found his family in penurious circumstances. They then returned to their Mohegan home, and eventually founded a new settlement called Brothertown made up of Christians from several Native American nations. Occom lived in deep poverty for most of his life.
While Dartmouth College did attach Occom’s name to several local places (Occom Pond perhaps the most well-known) it was only in the 1970’s that the college established a Native American studies program, including a Samson Occom Professorship, and began to recruit Native American students.
Another important aspect of Occom’s life was his abolitionist preaching. Among his most famous sermons (many were published in his lifetime) was one in 1787 in which he railed against the hypocrisy of so-called Christians who owned slaves. An intriguing connection in Occom’s life was his correspondence with Phyllis Wheatley (1753-1784), a young African American slave brought from West Africa at age seven and bought by the Wheatley family in Boston. (The Wheatleys actually helped to finance Occom’s preaching tour to England.) Phyllis wrote to Occom praising his abolitionist stance. Phyllis Wheatley herself was the first published African American poet, and gained international renown, including praise from George Washington and Voltaire. Although she was freed shortly after the publication of her book of poetry in 1773, Phyllis lived in great poverty thenceforth and died at age 31.
Dartmouth College has a collection of Occom historical memorabilia, including a copy of the texts of two of his hymns (no music survives to my knowledge) written out in his own hand. The following verses excerpted from the hymn “Come All My Young Companions, Come” by Occom reflect a remarkable optimism and vibrant faith in Christ.
O how rejoiced I was to think,
A Saviour I had found,
It turned my Sorrows into Joy,
To hear the blessed Sound,
Salvation from my God on high,
So pleasantly did Ring,
It sought my Soul at Liberty,
To praise my heavenly King,
And while I dwell on Earth below
I’ll praise my Jesus here
And then go to yonder Wo[r]ld
And praise my Jesus there.
I would like to conclude this excursion by offering some reflections kindly shared with me by my daughter Marina’s close friend, a Native American woman, Singer Horse Capture, who graduated from Dartmouth College, studying in the Native American program there.
In a recent conversation, I asked Singer to tell me what Thanksgiving means to her. She spoke of it as a time for reflection, a joyous day of celebration with family and friends. Pointing out that in Native American culture every day is a day of thanks, Singer said that Thanksgiving can be a moment to relearn our history, to grapple with what is often a false narrative about relations between Native Americans and white colonists. She plans to have a lovely feast outdoors with family and friends this year, sharing good food, laughter and gratitude.
After we spoke, Singer thoughtfully sent me a list of resources for anyone interested in further exploration of Native American culture. I share that with you below. Happy Thanksgiving, dear friends!!
Faithfully yours,
Mary Therese
List of ways to honor Native people on Thanksgiving and beyond!
A popular podcast, All My Relations, by two Native American Women, Matika Wilbur, a photographer, filmmaker and writer who belongs to the Swinomish and Tulalip people, and Adrienne Keene, a citizen of the Cherokee Nation, writer, and Assistant Professor of American Studies and Ethnic Studies at Brown University.
An episode Matike and Adrienne just did on Thanksgiving
A list of recipes from a prominent Native chef who is based in Minnesota
A website where you can look at whose Native lands you’re on
A massive list of Native owned businesses that could be a good place to start for holiday shopping
A list of indigenous literature
Alternatively, a list of Native authors
Finally, a project Singer did at Dartmouth on a winter count of the Plains Indian Yaktonai People
