My Thanksgiving is Different from Yours
In which the author offers a public service announcement for foreign readers
This week, the US television that permeates our cultural environment here (north of the 49th parallel) is just chock full of THANKSGIVING. Yes, all in capital letters, shouting, second only to the attention that is apparently due to Black Friday Sales. (That’s a different rant.)
So in the interests of North American cultural harmony and enlightenment, I offer my American readers this quick guide to some of the ways that YOUR Thanksgiving is different from mine.
1. History
Our Thanksgiving in Canada predates the U.S. celebration by more than 40 years. As told by the website Canada’s History:
As the story goes, in 1578, English explorer Martin Frobisher and his crew gave thanks and communion was observed, either on land at Frobisher Bay, in present day Nunavut, or onboard a ship anchored there. The explorers dined on salt beef, biscuits, and mushy peas and gave thanks through Communion for their safe arrival in then Newfoundland. This is now accepted as the first “Canadian” Thanksgiving, forty-three years before the first “American” Thanksgiving.
