At McMaster every fall, there is a mass exodus of students who head home to spend time with their families and consume lots of turkey, or sometimes tofurkey. But I am never one of them.
For all of the years I’ve been in university, I only managed to make it home for Thanksgiving in my first year. When I mention this to people they think my parents want nothing to do with me and I must have starved over the weekend. That, or I’m really anti-social. I assure you none of this is true, but we are a bit non-traditional when it comes to Thanksgiving.
My parents are cool with this arrangement. I’m their only child and have left the nest. They have adjusted to life without me being around and I have done the same. It’s not that we don’t talk often (we do), but it seems we do things differently than most families.
My parents drove down to visit me last weekend, took me out for Thai food, and then spent Thanksgiving weekend at their cottage. I, on the other hand, spent the weekend frantically working on the three essays I have due between Tuesday and Wednesday afternoon. Maybe this is our Thanksgiving tradition because it seems to happen every year.
Interesting fact: grocery stores still sell pumpkin pie to you even if you’re not with your family over the weekend.
As part of one of my lectures last week, I learned about the Haudenoshonee Thanksgiving Address, also known as Ohen:ton Karihwatehkwen, or “words that come before all else.” This ceremony is important to the Haudenoshonee peoples and is a means of thanking the natural world for all of the things it provides. Traditionally, the address can go on for days at a time, and is recited in one of the six Haudenoshonee languages.
However, there are now short summations in English. Although I am not advocating for cultural co-option, I firmly believe we should all be giving thanks every day, instead of once a year. I really dislike that everyone feels obligated to give thanks because it’s a holiday. It seems to cheapen the meaning behind everything.
This time of year also makes me reflect on how much we actually know about the holidays. I’m sure you all know the real history of Thanksgiving, right? Sometime in the sixteenth century, the pilgrims and Native Americans came together and celebrated, as the Native people were preventing the British separatists from suffering from starvation. Everyone was happy, food was plentiful, and the world was full of rainbows, cuddly kitties, cute puppies and magical unicorns.
In case my sarcasm didn’t register with you, what we are taught about the first Thanksgiving is actually a huge myth. There was no Thanksgiving feast and relations were not good. Although the puritans were starving (they ate their dogs, boiled their clothes for the starch, and even cannibalized each other) and the Tsenacomoco did help them survive the first winter, there ends the truth behind the Thanksgiving narrative.
Once the colonists gained more supplies the following spring, they turned against the Tsenacomoco; a trend toward Indigenous people that has lasted for centuries.
Although there have been commonalities in the way Canadians and Americans treated and continue to treat our Indigenous populations, there are many differences between the two nations. The story of the foundation of Canada is based on both British and French colonists, creating a different narrative and thus a distinct culture down the road. The first Canadian Thanksgiving was celebrated in 1859, it had a pro-British, white, Christian, Anglo-Saxon message, and was incredibly anti-American. However, by the 1870’s the American “traditions” as stated above took hold on Canada much against the chagrin of our religious leaders of the time.
Since then, the holiday’s meaning has changed yet again for Canadians. The holiday we celebrated in the Victorian era wanted us to express thanks for the things in our world and the people around us. It was in 1957 that Parliament passed a law that Thanksgiving would move to the second Monday in October, and that is how it has remained, along with the American story. This has lead to Thanksgiving becoming yet another Hallmark holiday.
For Indigenous people, Columbus Day and Thanksgiving represents a celebration of ethnocide, since their population has decreased as a result of colonialism and the xenophobia that accompanied it. Copies of the May 4, 1493, Papal Bull “Inter Caetera” – the document that allowed colonizers divine rule over North America – are burnt as a form of protest. The Papal Bull stated only Christians had rights to the land and since the continent was inhabited by heathens, their rights were revoked as possessors of the land. The myth of terra nuellis followed and also “allowed” Europeans their claim to North America.
I am thankful that I have my health, a roof over my head, a family that loves me, and fridge full of food. I am thankful that my parents instilled in me the desire to keep learning new things. I am even thankful for the ability to attend university, even though I am not all that impressed at the due dates my professors set out for me this year.
What I am most thankful for is that Hamilton does not have a wild turkey population. Those bastards are mean and will chase you.
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