The event that some Americans commonly call the "First Thanksgiving" was celebrated by the Pilgrims to give thanks to God for guiding them safely to the New World. The feast lasted three days and fed 53 Pilgrims and about 90 native American Indians. A wide variety of food was served: fish, shellfish, wild fowl, venison, berries, fruit, vegetables and harvest grains. The New England colonists were accustomed to regularly celebrating thanksgivings, days of prayer thanking God for blessings such as military victory or the end of a drought. As a federal and popular holiday in the U.S., Thanksgiving is one of the major holidays of the year. No artist credited, undated.