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Wednesday, November 22,2023
Fayette County News A5
Cultural Melting Pot: How Thanksgiving is Celebrated in Various Cultures
Leah Banks
Senior Reporter
leah@fayette-news.net
While Thanksgiving is
typically seen as an Amer
ican tradition where fam
ilies and friends gather to
give thanks and celebrate
another year, the many
cultures represented
throughout Fayette
County bring diverse cele
brations for all.
According to Britan-
nica, Americans believe
that the holiday is built
after the 1621 harvest feast
shared by English col
onists, commonly referred
to as pilgrims, and the
Wampanoag people. The
day was celebrated for
years, but was not pro
claimed a national holiday
until Oct. 3, 1863, when
Abraham Lincoln pro
claimed that the holiday
be officially celebrated on
Thursday, Nov, 26.
From then on, the day
was filled with American
traditions, such as serving
foods like turkey, stuffing,
cranberry sauce, and
pumpkin pie. But
throughout the course of
centuries, those of other
cultures began to embrace
the idea of giving thanks
in their own way.
According to Sarah
Pruitt, a contributor from
the History Channel, the
United States is not the
only nation that celebrates
the holiday that is tied to
giving thanks and a sense
of community. In fact, Ca
nada’s first Thanksgiving
celebration predates
America’s by more than
40 years.
“In 1578, an expedition
led by the English navi
gator Martin Frobisher
held a ceremony in what is
now Nunavut, giving
thanks for the safety of
their fleet. This is consid
ered the first-ever Thanks
giving celebration in
North America,” Pruitt
said, “though in fact, First
Nations and Native Amer
icans had been holding
harvest festivals long be
fore Europeans arrived.
Loyalists who moved to
Canada during the Rev
olutionary War intro
duced turkey, along with
some other customs from
the American Thanksgiv
ing.”
Germany is another
country that has an equiv
alent holiday, according to
Pruitt. This similar holi
day is referred to as “Ernt-
edankfest.”
“This religious holiday
often takes place on the
first Sunday in October,
which is often also the first
Sunday following Michae-
listag (Michaelmas) on
Sept. 29; different places
mark the occasion on var
ious dates in September
and October,” Pruitt said.
“Though rural areas take
the harvest festival con
cept more literally,
churches in German cities
also join in on the celebra
tion, giving thanks for the
good fortune their congre
gations experienced that
year.
“During a typical Ernt-
edankfest, celebrants may
carry an Erntekrone ('har
vest crown’) of grains,
fruit, and flowers to the
church in a solemn pro
cession, and feast on such
hearty fare as die Mas-
thiihnchen (fattened
chickens) or der Kapaun
(castrated roosters).”
Another country that
celebrates a similar holi
day is Liberia, which is
one that may seem a bit
unlikely to revel in what is
traditionally seen as a Eu
ropean holiday. The con
nection to Liberian history
and American history
dates back to the era of
slavery, according to
Pruitt.
“Freed slaves from the
United States established
Liberia in the early 1820s
with help from the Ameri
can Colonization Society,
a private organization that
believed returning African
Americans to the coun
tries of their origins would
provide them with greater
opportunity, help spread
Christianity to Africa, and
solve the nagging problem
of slavery in the United
States,” Pruitt said.
“In the early 1880s,
Liberia’s government
passed an act declaring
the first Thursday of No
vember as National
Thanksgiving Day. Today,
it is largely a Christian
holiday: Churches auction
baskets filled with local
fruits like papayas and
mangoes after their serv
ices, and local families
feast on the bounty. In
stead of turkey and pump
kin, Liberia’s
Thanksgiving tables boast
items such as spicy
roasted chicken and
mashed cassavas, and live
music and dancing are
part of the Thanksgiving
tradition.”
Puerto Rico is com
monly known for festiv
ities that lie outside the
realm of American tradi
tion, according to Pruitt,
but after it became a terri
tory of the United States in
the late 19th Century,
many of its residents wel
comed this American tra
dition with open arms,
while also providing “a lit
tle twist of their own.”
“They celebrate it on
the same day (fourth
Thursday in November)
and embrace the same
Black Friday shopping
craziness on the following
day,” Pruitt said. “But
Puerto Ricans have put
their own twist on the tra
ditional Thanksgiving Day
feast: There is usually tur
key - whether a roasted,
seasoned pavochon or a
turkey stuffed with mo-
fongo (a mashed plantain
dish) - but roast pork is
also a common item on
the menu, accompanied
with more plantains, rice,
and beans.”
Whether it be the simi
lar American traditions of
gratitude, turkey, and
football games after a
heavy meal, or the various
traditions that span across
the globe, Fayette’s di
verse background in the
sharing of community and
gratitude is seen through
out the various repre
sented cultures that add to
the beauty of the county.
HOLY TRINITY
CATHOLIC CHURCH
welcome koifW.
Holy Trinity a vibrant
Catholic community
in Peachtree City, GA
invites and welcomes
you to our parish.
Thank you for being with
us this weekend as we
gather together at the
table of the Eucharist.
Saturday- 4:00p.m. and 5:30p.m.
Sunday- 7:15a.m., 10:30a.m.
12:15p.m., 1:45p.m. (Spanish)
and 4:30p.m. (Lifeteen)
HOLYTRINITYPTC.ORG
770-487-7672
101 WALT BANKS RD.
PEACHTREE CITY, GA 30269
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