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Thanksgiving isn’t necessarily a strictly American tradition. Although it has gone by many different names, the idea of Thanksgiving has been celebrated for a few millennia in countries all over the world – even Canada has one – with the intent to show gratefulness to another year gone by and a stored crop to show for it.
In ancient China, there was a birthday party for the moon. The ancient Chinese saw a rabbit when they looked upon the surface of the moon, so to show their respect to the celestial body, special cakes were made and rabbit effigies were stamped on top.
The Hebrew population had their own harvest holiday, celebrated shortly after the important holy day Yom Kippur. This celebration also dealt with the full moon. Although not as widely observed, Sukkot traditionally consisted of building small huts and hanging fruits and vegetables in memory of Moses and the Israelites wandering for 40 years.
Credited with teaching mankind how to grow and prepare crops, Demeter was the Greek goddess of the bountiful harvest. In much the same way as is celebrated today, the early Greeks held feasts in the name of Demeter, showing their gratitude for another year of successful crops.
The Romans had a similar celebration, paying homage to their version of Demeter, Ceres – from which the English word “cereal” was derived, seeing as she is the goddess of corn and other grains.
As most of us were taught in early grade school, American Thanksgiving was based off the first Europeans to successfully survive in North America. After incurring huge losses in their population during their first year, the Plymouth settlers – later dubbed Pilgrims – held a celebration for having an unstinted harvest. Traditionally, we were told that this celebration was the coming together of Native Americans and English settlers, but in reality, the Pilgrims invited the leader of the closest tribe, Massasoit, among others, to attempt to assuage their already strained relationship.
For a short time, it held; the natives of the area joined in festivities. This first Thanksgiving actually lasted three days where a significant quantity of woodland fowl – turkeys – were consumed. In return for the hospitality shown by the pilgrims, Massasoit had several of his men kill deer as a sign of appreciation.
Although many U.S. presidents made proclamations celebrating Thanksgiving – including George Washington, who thought the day should be observed to acknowledge our opportunity to live in a free state – it was not made an official federal holiday until Abraham Lincoln declared it during the Civil War. After that, Franklin D. Roosevelt set the federal holiday as the fourth Thursday in November.
Nowadays, most Americans don’t use the day to remember what a great country we live in. Instead, we use it as a chance to catch up with family and friends, eat until we fall asleep and watch football games that inevitably end in us sleeping.
“It’s a time to spend with my family,” Tim Roberts, a senior kinesiology and physical education major, said. “It’s a time to remember the good things in life, to take a break and spend time with my nieces and nephews.”
Megan Kirkpatrick, a junior business major, echoed Roberts’ sentiment. “It has a lot to do with family,” she said. “[For me] it’s all about getting together with the family we still have.”
Seeing as many students choose to stay on campus for Thanksgiving, avoiding the potentially lethal traffic heading home and back, this idea of family extends to close friends as well. Many students will be doing it alone this year. Sophomore Becky Cartwright said this will be her first Thanksgiving away from home. “I’ll miss my family, but a friend invited me to have dinner with her family,” she pointed out, indicating that as long as someone’s around, there’s still a lot to be thankful for.
Because this holiday is actually a time where we ought to be looking at what is good in our lives, there is no need to be tied to the idea of having turkeys. Cooking a full turkey in a resident hall would be a challenge best avoided. Perhaps a smaller bird might suffice, such as a chicken or game hen. Also, many side dishes come in cans, providing easily created accoutrements to an on-campus dinner feast.
Despite holiday status, several establishments will still be open on Thanksgiving, usually until about 3:00 p.m., so get out early, or plan on staying in with some close friends, and give thanks for the simple things in life.
Bangor Daily News