The Roots of Thanksgiving

 

Kyle Russell

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Thanksgiving. The time when you gather around at a table with your family. Followed by a prayer, unless you do not follow a specific a religion, and stuffing your face full of sweet succulent food. Mashed potatoes, peas, turkey, ham, corn, pecan pie, apple pie, pumpkin pie, sweet potato pie, corn bread etc. You get the point. The point is that Thanksgiving is the time to gather with those you love. Back in the day. It was much of the same thing, give or take. This is the history of Thanksgiving.

 

In 1621, the Plymouth colonists and Wampanoag Indians shared a harvest feast that is acknowledged today as the first Thanksgiving. For the next two centuries, days of Thanksgiving were celebrated by individual colonies and states. It wasn’t until 1863 that Abraham Lincoln proclaimed that Thanksgiving become a national holiday to be held every November.

 

Over time people of different races and religions have changed the way their families celebrate Thanksgiving. It even goes down to different families of the same religion and just different families in general celebrating Thanksgiving and other holidays in their own ways. There are even some people who keep the tradition of breaking the wishbone. Some go out to watch the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade. There is even a tradition where the President of the U.S. pardons a turkey and the alternate turkeys to a farm so they can live out the rest of their lives on a farm. Even Canada is different from the U.S.. In Canada they celebrate their own Thanksgiving in October. On the first Sunday of October, Germany celebrates Erntedankfest. This religious holiday harvest festival is dedicated to giving thanks for a good year and good fortune. Kinro kansha no Hi (Which translates to Labor Thanksgiving Day) is a national public holiday in Japan that is celebrated every November 23rd. This holiday is derived from ancient harvest festival rituals named Niinamesai. It is intended to celebrate the rights of workers in post World War 2 Japan. Today it is celebrated with labor-led festivities. Children create crafts and gifts for local police officers.

 

These are only a few examples of how different countries celebrate Thanksgiving. Maybe you could travel to other countries and experience these holidays. Even other holidays are celebrated differently in different countries. Like Oktoberfest. In the United States, Nashville, Tennessee, Oktoberfest is celebrated annually in the downtown Germantown neighborhood. It is celebrated all around the world even though it started in Germany. It’s the same with Thanksgiving and many other holidays.