Thanksgiving is a very important cultural festival in the United States. It takes place on the last Thursday of November and its purpose, as its name suggests, is to give thanks for all that we have. The Mayflower pilgrims held the very first Thanksgiving. After having barely survived a harsh winter and following an abundant harvest, they decided to hold a feast to give thanks. Largely redolent of the traditional English Harvest Festival, a significant and unique element to this original Thanksgiving was that the pilgrims invited 91 local Indians to whom they felt indebted for assisting their survival in that first bleak year. This spirit of friendship did not last however, a few years on and the pilgrims were condemning the Indians as heathen. Nowadays, the festival is a chance for family to get together and enjoy the traditional food such as roast turkey and pumpkin pie that no Thanksgiving could do without.