As we all know, Thanksgiving is a national holiday celebrated predominantly in America. On this day, family members from different places come together and enjoy bountiful meals with Thanksgiving staples like turkey, cranberry sauce, pumpkin pie, and mashed potatoes. Parades featuring bands, performers, floats of celebrities, and huge balloons portraying cartoon characters have become an integral part of this American holiday. Even though the countries that celebrate this festival presently have a drastically different picture of the holiday, Thanksgiving has a very detailed history behind it that dates back to the 17th century. By Angira Kar
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It was September of 1620 when a ship called Mayflower left the city of Plymouth, England with 102 separatists including some who wanted to move to a land where they could practice their faith without any hindrance and some who were lured by the potential prosperity and affluence of the New World. This group of people is popularly referred to as ‘pilgrims’. After an extremely uncomfortable journey spanning the duration of a month, the pilgrims landed in Massachusetts and began the work of building a village.
A brutal winter wreaked havoc on them, underlined with the spread of chronic and contagious diseases, which resulted in only half of the pilgrims staying alive to see the face of spring. However, around that time a Native American named Squanto came along as a blessing in disguise and taught the surviving pilgrims how to harvest, prepare edible food, and avoid poisonous plants.
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The previously malnutrition-ridden and illness-struck pilgrims were finally able to successfully harvest corn and other crops in November of 1621. Their governor threw a feast in celebration and they united with a Native American tribe, Wampanoag, who were their friends and allies. In 1783, by a proclamation issued by George Washington, Thanksgiving was celebrated to express gratitude towards America’s successful war of independence and the ramification of the constitution.
In 1827, Sarah Josepha Hale, a renowned writer of her time popularly known as the Mother of Thanksgiving, launched a campaign to establish Thanksgiving as a national holiday. President Abraham Lincoln finally responded to her numerous requests in 1863 and scheduled Thanksgiving to be celebrated on the fourth Thursday of every November.
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Although this is just the legend behind the iconic Thanksgiving celebration in the USA, there are similar Thanksgiving celebrations in other countries all over the world, with legends and beliefs of their own. Let’s explore some of these in the list below.
1. Mid-Autumn Festival, China
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On the 15th day of the eighth month of the Chinese lunisolar calendar, when the moon is in its fully round shape, offerings are made to the moon as a symbol of paying gratitude and praying for a bountiful harvest. It is an ancient Chinese belief that the fullness of the moon represents fertility, and hence, this celebration dates long back to when emperors used to worship the moon in the hopes of fertile lands and abundant yields. The Chinese celebrate this day in modern times with delicacies like the mooncake while reuniting with families and lighting lanterns for good luck and prosperity.
2. The Kadazan Festival, Malaysia
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Malaysians believe that God sacrificed his daughter in order to feed people who were starving for the lack of harvest. They believe that he buried his daughter’s body in pieces that became seeds of crops. For such a dark past, the Kadazan festival is a considerably brighter celebration earmarking the harvest of rice. Kadazan festival is an occasion to pay respect to the Creator who facilitates life on Earth. The festival is filled with singing contests, dance competitions, agricultural shows, and even beauty pageants among other festivities.
3. Pongal, India
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Pongal is a South Indian celebration where Indra, the God of clouds, is worshipped and paid respect to for providing water to facilitate yield and prosperity of agricultural lands. This festival spans over the duration of four days and each day has its own unique rituals. These rituals include offerings of rice and milk to the Sun God, decorating cows with beads and flowers, and worship by women for the prosperity of their family members. Filled with a good deal of rice, sugar cane and turmeric — this is one of India’s most renowned festivals that takes place during mid-January to give thanks to nature and the Gods.
4. Thanksgiving, Canada
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Also popularly known as Canadian Thanksgiving, this is an annual celebration in Canada which was surprisingly first held almost 40 years prior to America’s first Thanksgiving. In 1578, an explorer named Martin Frobisher first held a Thanksgiving feast to express gratitude for his safe return from an Arctic journey. Soon after, French settlers celebrated their union with indigenous Canadians with feasts. During the American Revolution, some Loyalists moved to Canada and introduced staple American traditions of having turkey, mashed potatoes, stuffing, etc. into the Canadian Thanksgiving ritual, giving rise to the similarities between celebrations held in the two countries. Now observed on the first Monday of every October — this is a Canadian celebration of reunion and abundance.
5. Erntedankfest, Germany
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Churches, both protestant and catholic, run the show on Germany’s Thanksgiving Day, Erntedankfest. On this day of giving thanks for the harvest — fruits, vegetables, and grains are carried to the church in woven baskets, blessed, and then distributed among the poor. After several such church services, lantern parades or laternenumzüge are held for the amusement of children. Along with American influences in the feast, Germans also have Mohnstriezel, a sweet bread sprinkled with poppy seeds, to retain the feel of a German Thanksgiving.
6. Chuseok Harvest Festival, Korea
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Chuseok festival is a Korean celebration of paying gratitude for the bountiful harvest of the autumn season and praying for the next year to be even better. Other than that, this festival is also about paying respect to the departed ancestors. The people of Korea go to the graves of their ancestors, trim the plants and clean the surroundings of the tomb, and offer food and drinks to them. Further, this festival is celebrated with friends and family, while eating dishes prepared with freshly harvested rice, singing folk songs, and holding archery contests among other rituals.
7. Thanksgiving, Liberia
Liberia was established by the freed American slaves with the cooperation of the American Colonization Society. This organisation helped the former slaves establish this South-African country, having to spread Christianity as one of its agendas. In the 1880s, the Liberian government declared the first Thursday of every November as the Liberian Thanksgiving Day. Along with enjoying feasts and attending church services with family and friends, dancing and music are also an integral part of Liberia’s Thanksgiving celebrations.
Although Thanksgiving is a tradition known to be primarily celebrated in the USA, the celebration of the bounty of nature knows no bounds and is spread all over the world with unique rituals, festivities, customs and history.
Related: 10 Countries That Celebrate Thanksgiving (Sometimes) Grander Than The US!
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