Canadians Celebrate Thanksgiving
The second Monday in October may not mean much to most Americans, beside the fact that Halloween is less than three weeks away. However, Canadians will be wishing family and friends across Canada a happy Thanksgiving.
Most Canadians view Thanksgiving as a celebration of a successful harvest, which happens a little earlier than in the U.S., hence the earlier date. The biggest difference between Thanksgiving in Canada and in the United States is the time of year it is celebrated. Thanksgiving in Canada is further away from Christmas than it is in the United States.
In the U.S., it feels like one holiday season. In Canada, they are completely separate. Canadians also don’t have worry about a big shopping rush the day after Thanksgiving for all the Christmas sales.
A similarity between Thanksgiving in the United States and Thanksgiving in Canada is the type of food that is served. I really don’t think there is any differences in food since we really come from the same base culture. Canada enjoys turkey, ham, potatoes and the familiar fixings we do in the US. However, I hear that sweet potatoes and yams are not a very common side dish like they are here in that states. Rather, Canadians eat a lot of brussel sprouts.
Not only is the food similar, but the décor used to add festivity to tables, homes and businesses is much the same as what’s used in the United States. It’s typically with the beautiful fall colors and theme with the occasional turkey thrown in for good measure.
Post-feasting activities in America often include watching a football game on TV. Most Americans relax after their thanksgiving meal while watching football games on television. Traditionally, two National Football League teams, the Detroit Lions and the Dallas Cowboys, host games on Thanksgiving Day. High viewership of these holiday games has made football an American Thanksgiving tradition.
Since the feast is on the second monday of October every year…there’s probably no football games on. Many Canadians, however, choose to watch hockey rather than football after having their big feast.
Unlike the United States’ traditional fourth Thursday in November, Canada celebrates its Thanksgiving holiday on the second Monday in October. According to the Web site Canadian Thanksgiving, the first Canadian Thanksgiving, as a country, was celebrated on April 15, 1872 in thanks for the recovery of the future King Edward VII from a serious illness. The next Thanksgiving wasn’t held until 1879.
Over the next 70 plus years, Canada had a difficult time deciding on an exact date Thanksgiving should be held. On Jan. 31, 1957, Parliament issued a proclamation to permanently fix the second Monday in October as “a day of general Thanksgiving to Almighty God for the bountiful harvest with which Canada has been blessed.”
If one were to go even farther back though the web site made this interesting reference: The history of Thanksgiving in Canada is related to Martin Frobisher, who was an English navigator. He made a lot of efforts to find a northern passage to the Orient. Though he did not succeed in his efforts but he was able to establish a settlement in Northern America. In the year 1578, he held a formal ceremony, in what is now known as Newfoundland, to give thanks for surviving the long journey. This is considered the first Canadian Thanksgiving. Martin Frobisher was later knighted and an inlet of the Atlantic Ocean in northern Canada was named as ‘ Frobisher Bay‘ after him. When other settlers arrived here they continued this ceremony of giving thanks.
In finishing…I’m looking at my calender for this date and it just happens to be Columbus Day here in America. Hmmmm…maybe our good friends to the north do have this thing right after all. Happy Thanksgiving Canada.
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