Why Thanksgiving rocks

In 1621, the Brits were biting it… hard. They had wintered on their yacht at Plymouth, where they luxuriated in scurvy, chicken pox, and Fresher’s flu. Then the homeboy (who should be super famous) called Squanto showed up, greeted them in English and basically saved all their lives by teaching them how to grow corn, fish native waters, avoid poison ivy and, most significantly, make maple syrup. He also negotiated a BFF arrangement between the Wampanoag tribe and the newbies, who now called themselves Pilgrims. Governor William Bradford threw a party, as any self-respecting religious separatist should, and the Pilgrims and Wampanoags shared a harvest feast: the first Thanksgiving.

So while Thanksgiving actually means ‘thank you for saving our asses’, you probably realise that the Colonies experienced a significant change of heart towards the native peoples as the spirit of Thanksgiving became less economically advantageous. The settlements expanded and the United States of America was formed; a few of our favourite presidents (Washington, J. Adams and Madison) paid lip service to the holiday. Abe Lincoln made it official for the last Thursday in November in 1863, in a famous cheerleading attempt to get folks to hush up about the whole War of Northern Aggression thing (that’s what my grandfather still calls the American Civil War). Conveniently disregarding the key role of the native race of people we proceeded to displace and obliterate, Thanksgiving shifted to a more general holiday of wartime gratefulness. Then fashionisto Franklin D. Roosevelt created Black Friday – the most famous of all shopping days – by bumping Thanksgiving up a week, hoping to boost retail sales during the Great Depression.

These days, Thanksgiving is less about religion, starvation or war, and more about pausing. Perhaps that’s why Thanksgiving is my all-time favourite holiday. Unlike the ghoulish gluttony of Halloween, which precedes it, and the confusing mix of materialism and organised religion of the Hanukkah, Christmas and Kwanzaa holidays to follow, Thanksgiving is chill. It’s about taking the day off, hanging with the fam, sitting in front of the fireplace or running around in the backyard with people you like. It’s still about food: Turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, green beans, cranberries, pumpkin pie… Occasionally we even remember people who helped us to get to where we are today. Most of the time Thanksgiving pulls into perspective the chaotic world of soldiers at war, people losing jobs (or never finding them to begin with) and ill health, and that’s something, eh?

For me, Thanksgiving starts with the parade: Macy’s Thanksgiving Day parade. New York City streets, showtunes, pop stars, tap dancing, Snoopy floats and the Rockettes at 9am, what’s not to love?! This is followed by American football all day long (say what you will haters, I love me some rugby, but for Thanksgiving, it’s American football or nothing) interspersed with puttering around in the kitchen until everything smells awesome and the house is filled with lovely thankful people. In St Andrews Thanksgiving finds me at my most patriotic hostessy best. The international crowd circles the table and begrudgingly mutters in turn what they’re most thankful for… and then the magic happens, the giggling starts, the repressed stodgy embarrassment lifts and genuine gratitude pours forth. I don’t know why or how it happens, but it does every year, and it makes me so happy. Plus, people basically hug me with tears in their eyes when I feed them sweet potato pie topped with marshmallows and brown sugar. It’s the best holiday.

This year I am thankful for resilience and the capacity to change things for the better when they go awry. I’m also thankful for my friends, who make me feel valuable. And I’m thankful for Squanto; he had the right idea with that whole helping others survive thing. What are you thankful for?

FOOTNOTE:

As is typical of our nicer northern neighbours, Canadian Thanksgiving, which actually pre-dates American Thanksgiving by 43 years, is far less politically loaded. In 1578, Martin Frobisher landed (accidentally) in New Foundland and held a harvest feast to give thanks for his safe arrival. Canadian Thanksgiving is held the second Monday in October, mainly because it’s too freaking cold that far north for the harvest to still be celebrated in late November. 

Written by Betsy Andrews, understand writer

Photo: © Eric Sung