Thanksgiving - Varga Dóra (7.a) írása

The History of Thanksgiving and Some Festival Traditions

 

Officially, American people celebrate Thanksgiving on the fourth Thursday of November. Families get together to celebrate and say prayers for the things they have.

The story of this feast started in 1620. The Pilgrims arrived to the New World in that year, but didn't bring enough food, so half of the colony died during the winter.

But in the spring, the local Wampanoag Indians taught the Pilgrims how to grow and cook cranberries, corn and squash. The Indians also taught the colonists how to hunt and fish.

By the fall of 1621, the Pilgrims could harvest and the colonists and Wampanoag Indians came together for a feast of wild turkeys, duck, geese, fish, corn, green vegetables and dried fruits. They celebrated the succesful harvest season. The feast lasted for three days.

Since then, Thanksgiving is celebrated on different days of the year in the USA, Canada, Liberia and the Norfolk Islands.

However, the first American Thanksgiving was followed by a long period of conflicts between Native Americans and Europeans, and for many Native Americans Thanksgiving is a "National Day of Mourning."

Thanksgiving became a national holiday from about 1789.

This year, Thansgiving is on the 25 November.

People and families eat traditional food during this holiday. They eat stuffed or roast turkey, mashed potatoes, gravy, cranberry sauce, green bean casserole, roasted Brussels sprouts, all kinds of pies, especially pumpkin and pecan pies, and potato rolls.

Offices and some smaller shops close for the holiday so everyone can get together with their families, distant relatives and friends.

In Canada, celebrations of ”Turkey Day” usually begin one month before the American holiday. The Canadian harvest season starts earlier in the year because of the weather differences. Their traditions are almost the same. This year, Thanksgiving in Canada was on 11 October.