Fall inspires some melancholy musings about the role of the harvest in our modern lives. And I conclude that Canada does not own the "First Thanksgiving".
Today it is definitely Fall in Boston. I became conscious of this not because of the sudden biting chill, the desire for a hat and gloves, the peaking colors of the leaves... It was the melancholy atmosphere at our Farmer’s Market here in Brookline, Massachusetts, as the farmers packed up their stalls in the twilight, one last time this season.
Researching all the festivals and holidays that occur in Fall has been an eye-opener for me. Time and time again I realized that so many of our present-day celebrations are still closely tied to the agricultural history of our society. Halloween and all the other Fall Festivals of Death are fundamentally harvest festivals.
So is Thanksgiving as it is celebrated in the United States (Thursday, 23 November) and in Canada (Monday, 9 October). This discrepancy in dates, by the way, also has to do with the harvest coming earlier in Canada.
I have come to appreciate, in the most positive sense of the word, the fact that we, in our industrial societies, still do let some of those agrarian customs seep through in our lives. We may find California strawberries, South-American bananas and Florida organs in our supermarkets all year round, but the seasons do still intrude in our lives… whether we realize it, or not.
In this week’s article on the First Thanksgiving, I contend that the festival is primarily a harvest festival, and that any other so-called "thanksgiving" celebrations cannot be called "Thanksgiving" in the strict sense, with the capital T, if you wish.
As a result, I am forced to conclude that, contrary to popular (Canadian) belief, Canada can not lay claim to the First North-American Thanksgiving.
Let me just say that, like the turkey, I am really sticking my neck out for you, my readers! My editor (Catherine Tse) is Canadian, and Suite101 is half owned and almost wholly run by Canadians. I may be committing professional suicide by valiantly bringing you the truth!
Hopefully I'll get a pardon. But you may, of course, contest my proposition, and I hope we get a good discussion going. After all, it’s as much about the history as about the spirit of Thanksgiving...
