Thanksgiving’s Roots in Old World Harvest Feasts
By Carolyn Emerick
Celtic Guide, Vol.2:11 (November 2013)
Introduction: November hearkens the coming of that great American harvest feast wherein we express our gratitude for Nature’s bounty, and for the indigenous people whose generous support ensured the survival of the progenitors of our nation. However, when we dig a little deeper we discover that the tradition of Thanksgiving extends far beyond the borders of the United States. Canada celebrates her own Thanksgiving in October, and Germany’s version, called Erntedankfest, is celebrated either at the end of September or in early October. The November harvest festival that the British-American pilgrims would have been familiar with, prior to their emigration, is the Feast of Saint Martin, or Martinmas.
The first American settlers in New England were British separatists and largely Puritan. Recent history had seen the Protestant Reformation and the birth of the Anglican Church. The Puritans believed that the new Church of England’s reforms did not go far enough in breaking from Catholic tradition; hence the journey to settle new lands and form what they hoped would be a religious utopian life in the New World. We all know the story from here.
Things didn’t go as planned, crops failed, and the settlers were nearly starved out when the indigenous Americans stepped in with food as a gesture of good will. Today, hundreds of years later, we honor the memory of this story every year with the ritual of the Thanksgiving feast.
Today, hundreds of years later, we honor the memory of this story every year with the ritual of the Thanksgiving feast. But, many Americans aren’t aware that our own Thanksgiving feast has precedent in the ritual and ceremony of Old Europe.
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