Week # Air Date, 12/03/2006

Segment #1 THE REAL FIRST THANKSGIVING

November is a time when many Americans celebrate with family and friends eating turkey, pumpkin pie and watching parades and football on T.V. Many schoolchildren across the country make pilgrim hats and Indian headdresses out of construction paper. It's all to commemorate the first Thanksgiving, which history says took place at Plymouth Rock in the fall of 1621. But as KTEP's Louie Saenz reports, there is no consensus whether that Thanksgiving was actually the first one. (3:02)

Segment #2 Commentary: THANKSGIVING

Writer Denise Chavez shares a personal perspective on Thanksgiving and how this year will be different. (Self-contained 5:59)

Segment #3: ESSAY: 'SPILLING THE BEANS'

Almost a year before his death in 1996, Chicano writer Jose Antonio Burciaga read for us an excerpt from his book 'Spilling the Beans,' where he recalled some personal memories of the Thanksgiving Holiday. (3:10)

Segment #4 CHARREADA

The highly ritualized 'Charreada' is Mexico's national sport, commonly known in the U.S. as the Mexican rodeo. To many, it is a display of the essence of the Mexican male character: strong, courageous and self-reliant. The games are popular throughout California and the southwest, where they've taken a slightly different twist. Latino USA's Ruxandra Guidi attended a recent Charreada in San Antonio, Texas, and brings us this story. (6:38)