IN THE CLASSROOM:A taste of the first Thanksgiving meal

In the Newport Elementary School multipurpose room recently, the original Thanksgiving came alive again.

Traditional foods, including pie, mashed potatoes and corn bread, lined the tables. Students dressed as pilgrims, at least by wearing paper hats. Native Americans also made an appearance — but in their case, it wasn’t an act.

During the school’s annual Thanksgiving feast Nov. 21, Fred Curtis, an Apache, regaled students with his people’s songs and stories, while his wife, Dawn Gallerito, led them in a dance. Curtis, whose son attends the first grade at Newport, also passed on a bit of inside knowledge to the boys present.

“These were traditionally used to woo the heart of a woman,” he said, holding up an Apache flute before trilling out a song.

The event at Newport was all about heritage of different kinds. While students honored the founders of Thanksgiving, the school also held Grandparents Day, and half a dozen grandparents sat in the front row as students sang, recited poems and spelled out the word “thankful” as an acronym — apple pie for A, kindness for K, and so on.

The centerpiece of the event, however, was the presentation by Curtis and Gallerito. Curtis, who dressed in a traditional Apache shirt with colored ribbons to represent his tribe’s past and present warriors, began by reading an ancient tale from his people. The story told about the Sky Father and how he created the universe one piece at a time, then created humans out of clay when he felt lonely.

Later, Gallerito, who was born on a New Mexico reservation, led the students in a dance while her husband beat the drum. Their son, Samson Curtis, grew up schooled in his parents’ tradition, and his Apache cradle board sat on the stage during the assembly.

The relationship between the white settlers and Native Americans may not have been as harmonious as it was during the first Thanksgiving, but teacher Cynthia Sullivan’s class emphasized the positive in studying the holiday — learning, for example, how the natives helped the pilgrims to find food when they arrived in the New World.

“They were really nice to each other, because they met each other and they got along,” said Jade Mendoza, 6.