Why were the Wampanoag Indians invited to the first Thanksgiving celebration by the Pilgrims?

Thanksgiving tends to refer to thankfulness for the harvest. The thankfulness takes the form of harvest festivals. Such festivals have their origins in many places and times. Included among such historic celebrations are those of the Wampanoag Indians of the future state of Massachusetts. At the time of the Pilgrims, what the colonists and the aboriginals shared was a traditional celebration of the harvest. It was an event at which two different cultures could meet over a celebration that was common to both cultural heritages.