by Danielle Robbertze
With the autumn leaves falling and filling our bellies with pumpkin spice lattes it is easy to forget why we celebrate Thanksgiving and how it came to be.
This holiday occurs on the second Monday of October every year. This was not always the case. Some historians date the first Thanksgiving in Canada to 1578 (43 years before the first American Thanksgiving).
Martin Frobisher, an English explorer, rejoiced in his team’s safe arrival to what was known then as the New World. They arrived in Canada and enjoyed a meal of salted beef and mushy peas, far from today’s luxury of a Thanksgiving roast dinner. But after enduring freezing storms and treacherous waters, any meal would be enjoyed on solid ground by the explorers.
However, some do not accept this as the first Thanksgiving and think Samuel De Champlain’s festivities better align with what we know as Thanksgiving dinner today. De Champlain (founder of Quebec) held his first feast of Thanksgiving on November 14, 1606, between local Mi’kmaq and the French in what was known as New France. The highlight of their meal, if you wondered, was little red apples otherwise known as cranberries.
But after this day, the celebration of Thanksgiving festivities became inconsistent with it only being officially celebrated again in April 1872. It was on this date when the meaning of Thanksgiving changed again. Canada wanted to celebrate the Prince of Wale’s recovery from typhoid. Nicolas Chevalier’s painting titled Thanksgiving Day: the Procession to St Paul’s Cathedral illustrates this joyous occasion.
But Thanksgiving would change again. 6 November 1879 is when Thanksgiving was officially declared a national holiday in Canada. But why this is not the date we celebrate today? Well, again there was a change. Canadian Parliament declared in 1957 that Thanksgiving be held on the second Monday of October. This was done after the World Wars to keep Thanksgiving and Remembrance Day on separate weekends, and in this way honour the brave soldiers of each war.
The meaning of Thanksgiving started with the celebration of safe travels by explorers, to the celebration of a healthy monarch to what we know today as giving thanks to the bountiful harvest with which Canada has been blessed.
Hopefully this meaning is here to stay, and we can all enjoy our turkeys and pumpkin pies in bountiful celebrations.
Considering all this information above, it should be noted that this is the history as recorded from a European perspective. The origin of Canadian Thanksgiving can also be accredited to the First Nations, who have called Canada their home way before European travelers and colonizers. The Indigenous communities of Canada have for centuries given thanks to the Great Spirit for the abundance which they receive during the Fall months. This form of celebration could point to the beginning of the tradition of Thanksgiving we celebrate today in Canada.
However you view this day there is one theme that exists throughout history and that is giving thanks. Whether it be for safe travel, good health, abundance in produce or to a Creator bigger than us all. It all comes back to one thing and that is to be thankful for the many blessings and abundances we have in our beautiful country Canada.
