Growing up in the United States, you learn all about the Thanksgiving holiday and its history. Children as young as 4-5 are taught about the first Thanksgiving and how the Native Americans so graciously helped to feed the first European colonists that had begun to inhabit the continent on what would later be known as the holiday of Thanksgiving. Most people think that Thanksgiving is a holiday only celebrated from Americans, when in fact, Thanksgiving is also celebrated from our neighbors to the North. I consider myself lucky to be from both the United States and Canada; I’m extremely grateful to have two rich cultures influence my identity as a person and to have the joy of celebrating not one, but two Thanksgivings. But each Thanksgiving I celebrate, for the U.S. and Canada, are actually extremely different from one another.
For starters, Canadian Thanksgiving and American Thanksgiving are celebrated at different times throughout the year. The prior is celebrated in October around the American holidays of Columbus Day and Indigenous Peoples Day and the later being celebrated on the third Thursday of the month of November. The reason for Canada’s Thanksgiving being celebrated in the earlier part of the fall season rather than in the later part like the American version is because Canada’s Veterans Day (known locally as Remembrance Day) is celebrated on November 11th and Canadian officials didn’t want the two holidays to interfere with one another.
Another major difference between the two Thanksgiving holidays is their origin stories. Everyone knows the story of the first American Thanksgiving: how the pilgrims and Native Americans put aside their differences and came together in 1621 to enjoy one giant meal as a symbol of their gratitude for the bountiful autumn harvest they achieved. But did you know that the first Canadian Thanksgiving is said to have predated the American one by almost 35 years? The earliest reported Thanksgiving in Canada is said to have occurred in 1587 in what is known today as the Canadian territory of Nunavut. However, it wasn’t until the Canadian Confederation in April of 1872 did the first official Canadian Thanksgiving occur; and today, the tradition of Thanksgiving has come full circle and is primarily seen as a time to gather with your family and friends and share some really good food.
Another major difference between Canadian and American Thanksgiving is that the priors are a lot more chill. There’s no parades or extravagant festivities celebrating the holiday, in fact, the day itself in the Atlantic provinces is an optional holiday! And unlike the US, there is no post-meal shopping craze: no Black Friday, no Cyber Monday, just good old-fashioned celebrations surrounded by the people you love.
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