Our Thanksgiving celebration is modeled after the 1621 harvest feast of the Pilgrims and the Wampanoag. But there were at least a couple of feasts between Europeans and Native Americans before that. One notable feast occurred in 1566 when the notoriously fierce Calusa people hosted the Spanish governor of Florida, Pedro Menéndez de Avilés. The Calusa ruled southwestern Florida from a manmade island now called Mound Key near Fort Myers, where they had built a city of around 4,000 people.
King Caalus hosted the event in a dining hall that could hold 2,000 people, and served a variety of fish and oysters. Avilés brought a retinue that included a band, with fifes, drums, trumpets, a harp, and a guitar. They also brought biscuits, wine, molasses ...and tablecloths. King Caalus gave Avilés his sister as a wife. A good time was had by all.
But it didn't last. The Calusa weren't all that keen on sharing Florida, and the Spanish wanted to rule. Within a year, relations fell apart, and the Calusa would have nothing to do with Europeans afterward. Read about the Calusa culture, the feast, and what ultimately happened to them at Atlas Obscura.