Thanksgiving is a national holiday
which has been celebrated in Canada since 1957. However, it has been celebrated
in the U.S much longer. The first celebration that resembled thanksgiving was
in 1621 by the Plimouth colonists and the Wampanoag Indians. They referred to
the celebration as a "Harvest Feast". The tradition is said to have begun
in Southeastern Massachusetts and Eastern Rhode Island. These were the lands of
the Wampanoag Indians for over 12 000 years. This land provided good fish, wild
fruits and herbs. The Wampanoag people would gather this food and share it
within the tribe.
The Plimoth colony (Pilgrims) was a
colony that involved English Protestants who wanted to leave the Church of
England. They settled at Cape Cod which was within the area the Wampanoag
Indians lived. The leader and people of the Indian tribe befriended the
Settlers. The trust and friendship between the two groups lead to the Settlers
and Native people making an agreement in March of 1612. This agreement was that
both the Settlers and the Natives would join together to protect each other
from other tribes.
One fall
day, The tribe and Pilgrim men and women and children all joined together to
shared food and combine the two colonies to create one big feast. The meal is
believed to have consisted of deer, corn, shellfish, and roasted meat. At the
feats, they all played games, sang songs, and danced together.
The first
recorded Thanksgiving with a religious purpose was in 1623. The Colonists used
the Harvest Feast as an opportunity to thank God for rain after a 2 month
drought. But it wasn’t until 1863 (during the Civil War) that President Abraham
Lincoln declared Thanksgiving a national holiday which was to be held annually.
This was the first official American Thanksgiving.
On January
31, 1957, Canadian Parliament announced that on the second Monday in October,
Thanksgiving would be “a day of general thanksgiving to almighty God for the
bountiful harvest with which Canada has been blessed”. We then adopted the
American customs and used the cornucopia (Greek), also known as “Horn of Plenty” (which
is stuffed with seasonal fruit and vegetables) as the symbol of Thanksgiving.
Sources:
http://www.plimoth.org/learn/MRL/read/thanksgiving-history
Sooo informative, I had no idea! Do you think thanksgiving should be celebrated only by religious people because it did start out that way, sort of like Christmas?
ReplyDeleteI never knew this! Looking forward to more posts.
ReplyDeleteVery cool! In a future post, I would be interested in knowing the origin of "April Fools Day" (even though it's not technically a holiday).
ReplyDeleteI have noticed that many holidays have lost there initial meaning. Very rarely these days do people thank God at Thanksgiving.
ReplyDelete