What Is Thanksgiving?
Here is the short and sweet answer to the question: what is Thanksgiving? Thanksgiving Day is a traditional North American harvest festival holiday. Though our Thanksgiving is considered to be a Chrisitan celebration, harvest festivals and thanksgiving celebrations were traditionally held by the ancient Greeks, the Romans, the Hebrews, the Chinese, and the Egyptians. In the United States, Thanksgiving is a time when families and friends get together to share a meal and give thanks.
Thanksgiving is now celebrated on the fourth Thursday of November in the United States. In Canada Thanksgiving is celebrated on the second Monday in October. Observance of Canadian Thanksgiving began in 1879. The original Thanksgiving Proclamation was made by the governing council of Charlestown, Massachusetts.
Another part of what Thanksgiving is, as we typically think of it, is a multicultural community event. The Pilgrim’s invited the Indians to join them. Historic details are unclear but what is at the core of this early celebration of thanks is generosity. The Native people shared what they had and what they knew to help a starving new population. That meal of thanks celebrated the first year there was actually enough food harvested to feed everyone during the previous brutal winters. When the Pilgrims became able to sustain themselves, they shared, with thanks and gratitude, a meal with their community and neighbors. Of all the yearly celebrations in our culture, thanksgiving is the most communal and the most basic. It creates a bond that transcends differences and opens our hearts to one another.
What is Thanksgiving Tradition?We don't follow what is Thanksgiving tradition as historians record it. Documentary evidence of the event comes from the journal of Plymouth Colony's governor, Edward Winslow, who noted simply that the colonists met with Chief Massasoit and 90 of his men for a feast that lasted four days.Our Thanksgiving traditions often include travel over great distance by plane, bus and car. Our desire is to be with those we love and this is one time of year we do our best to make that happen. The old Thanksgiving song says: "Over the river and through the woods to grandmother's house we go." We now may travel over continents to get to grandma's house! Though I am now a grandmother, I recognize that the whole family will not be at my house for every Thanksgiving. Our married children have the families of their spouses as well. They sometimes choose to alternate years to be with each family. My husband's side of the family chooses to gather in October for an "early Thanksgiving" celebration. Whatever tradition gets families together, and keeps the peace, is the best.
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