Picture the traditional Thanksgiving dinner: a festive table, a loving family, glowing candles and the finest china used only on special occasions. And the centerpiece of the festive meal: the turkey, golden brown, with stuffing and gravy on the side, awaiting the carving knife and whetting the appetites of all those present. This centerpiece scene, emerges from both holiday traditions and a unique world history of a native American god bird.

Turkey may be the food most associated with Thanksgiving, but the whole notion of this holiday has its roots not in turkey but in corn.

Since 1947, the National Turkey Federation (NTF) has presented the President of the United States with a live turkey and two dressed turkeys in celebration of Thanksgiving. This web page has all the turkey trivia.

This year the President will pardon another ThanksgivingTurkey. But on the eve of an election year, not only will we be loosing a turkey, we will be gaining one as well. Lots of great farm & turkey photos, political humor and fun!

Following the Revolutionary War, the Continental Congress recognized the need to give thanks for delivering the country from war and into independence. Congress issued a proclamation on October 11, 1782.

Most Americans are familiar with the Pilgrim's Thanksgiving Feast of 1621, but few realize that it was not the first festival of its kind in North America. Long before Europeans set foot in the Americas, native peoples sought to insure a good harvest with dances and rituals such as the Green Corn Dance of the Cherokees.