Whether this is a day of thanksgiving or mourning (or even “unthanksgiving”) for you and yours, may you find contentment, happiness, and peace.
The Wild Hunt will be taking the rest of the day off to cook, bake and spend time with loved ones. But first, we would like to offer thanks to each and every person who reads, comments, and supports this site. As we move forward from another successful fund drive into the festive season of lights, it is your continued support that brings us back here each day.You have given us a reason to be thankful this season. So thank you!
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Public Domain [Pixbay]
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A week ago a was invited together with my girlfriend to a Canadian Thanksgiving hosted by some Canadian/American expats.
I’ve known the main host for some time: She’s an American who’s Finnish Sámi on her father side and who ended up moving to North-Norway to learn the language and the culture and ended up not leaving (that’s how awesome Europe is :P).
Before the food-eating proper, she had a little talk about Thanksgiving and its meaning, mentioning that it’s far from an uncontroversial celebration and she decided to give thanks to the Dakota Natives on whose land she grew up (I think it was N Dakota because I’ve never met anyone from South D.).
She told us she had asked the permission to local Elders back there and had been taught a song in their traditional language which she sang. Following that, a friend of her, a Sámi woman from Finnmark performed a Joik before people went eating.
Talking about Thanksgiving and in relation to the recent talk about cultural appropriation, I remembered this story. I also remember I get to have another share of Turkey tonight at yet another expat Thanksgiving :P.
Thanksgiving is something that has not really reached British shores, as a tradition, but we have started seeing the rise of Black Friday sales.
A depressing development.
Today on the Norwegian radio I actually heard an add for “Black Friday Salg”. That was rather ridiculous. If at least there would riots and widespread violence like in some places in the US it would make it fun…
I take Back what I say.
Such pathetic display of lowly behavior makes the retrogressive traditionalist in me boil…
It truly is pathetic and shows humanity for what they truly are.
Agreed
Stray thoughts for Thanksgiving…
The annual crop of news stories covering the late-November foul weather intersecting with the heaviest North American travel day of the year gives me to think. (Every year we have this intersection, and a number of tragic deaths as a result.)
First, as described in the Pilgrims myth, the first Thanksgiving was a harvest home feast. And in New England, the end of November (witness current news reports) is LONG after any harvest has been completed.
Second, Canada’s Thanksgiving takes place on the same date that the States call the Columbus Day holiday. The second week of October instead of the last week of November—a time when Harvest Home is reasonable to celebrate.
Third, both the Pilgrim myth of US Thanksgiving and the Columbus myth (that he “discovered” new land, when what he did was enable European invasion of an inhabited continent) ignore the rights of the native humans to their homes.
Proposal: Move USA’s Thanksgiving celebration to the date we now call Columbus Day, reflecting the Harvest Home nature of the holiday. Save *how* many lives with the annual travel insanity at the end of November? Make the existing Thanksgiving into a civil rights holiday!
It would be great indeed, but I doubt “normal” people would agree to change this tradition even if it’s only that little a change.
I thought it was the first Monday of October…oh, well, where’d that brain run off to?
To me, today is Mystery Science Theater 3000 Day! They’ve resurrected the Turkey Day Marathon as a live online streaming thing these past two years, and that’s a tradition that I hope sticks!
Perhaps later immigrants and their families were thankful for where they now live. When I was growing up, one small mom (4’9″, under 90 lbs) and two young girls made a turkey into a trial for how long we had to eat it before it was gone. We usually had traditional Lebanese food instead. Less expensive and we liked it a lot better.