To the editor:

The Nov. 14 letter titled “Unlearn ‘history,'” attempts to “talk about Thanksgiving truthfully.” The writer does a good job of showing the truth about the reality of Europeans’ effect on the native peoples already living in the “new world.” However, the truth of Thanksgiving is not that we get the pilgrims and American Indians story wrong each year, but that Thanksgiving was never meant to be about pilgrims and Indians in the first place.

George Washington created the Thanksgiving holiday in 1789 as “A day of public thanksgiving and prayer'” stating, “Whereas it is the duty of all nations to acknowledge the providence of Almighty God, to obey His will, to be grateful for His benefits, and humbly to implore His protection and favor;

“Now, therefore, I do recommend and assign Thursday, the 26th day of November next, to be devoted by the people of these States to the service of that great and glorious being who is the beneficent author of all the good that was, that is, or that will be; that we may then all unite in rendering unto him our sincere and humble thanks for his kind care and protection of the people of this country.”

If you really want to find the truth of Thanksgiving, it isn’t in a history book. It’s in a humble heart that recognizes with gratitude a God who has blessed our nation and each of us with countless graces. May he continue to do so.

Shawn P. Tunink,

Lawrence