Thanksgiving is seen as an American tradition born from the brief period salad days before British colonists and Native Americans clashed bloody horns. But Thanksgiving shares deep roots with pagan harvest festivals where heathens thanked various gods, mainly the sun, for a bountiful year of crops while putting in requests for more of the same next year.
Harvest festivals are commonplace throughout the world, but Thanksgiving is the prizefighter, the daddy of the game, and we can see its influences far away from the shores of the USA – in the same way that other countries beleagueredly submit to the American idea of democracy, many also take up the mantle of the all-American harvest festival.
For example, families in the UK these days chow down on a turkey at Christmas lunch, but this is a fairly recent development – it used to be traditional to eat goose, perhaps even duck, while turkeys are only native to the Americas. But the British saw their colonial cousins munching on this fascinating new bird, tears of thanks in their eyes, and decided they wanted a piece of that nascent Americana for themselves. And so, a mass turkey importation began. But it’s not just the UK that has felt the tentacles of Thanksgiving, so let’s take a look at where, what, how and why.
Liberia
Around 200 years ago, Liberia was colonised by African-Americans who had been emancipated from slavery back in the USA.
One of the traditions they brought over was Thanksgiving, and the holiday is celebrated near the start of November in keeping with the American cousins.
Japan
After World War II ended, the Land of The Rising Sun was occupied by the US for nearly seven years as they systematically disarmed the country.
This period in Japan’s history had a number of consequences, both good and bad, but one of the oddest was that the American interpretation of Thanksgiving became popular, and is still enjoyed today.
Netherlands
In the 1600s, most pilgrims headed to the new world via the Netherlands, and the country remembers this important connection every year.
In the city of Leiden, a Thanksgiving service is held annually to commemorate the pilgrims’ voyage.
Grenada
Paranoid that the Caribbean island country was becoming pro-communist, the USA invaded Grenada in 1983 to ensure capitalist ideals and American interests remained secure in what was codenamed Operation Urgent Fury.
Ever since, Thanksgiving has been celebrated in Grenada as a way of remembering the invasion – nowadays it’s more like Operation Urgent Turkey.
The Ancient World
In contrast to how the US has influenced others, it’s worth remembering that much of these practises come from the ancient world.
For example, cornucopias, namely horns full of festive foods, are displayed on many Thanksgiving tables, but these have their roots in mythology. Hercules broke off the horn of a river god and created one, while his father Zeus was nourished as a baby from a cornucopia on the island of Crete.
Importantly, Demeter the goddess of harvest was also the goddess of the cycle of life and death, hence it befit to give thanks to her for allowing people to survive the coming winter with the bounty she provided.
(Featured image: AForestFrolic)
