Thanksgiving is an American holiday and is a tradition that began in 1621, as a day of gratitude. Thanksgiving was proclaimed as a holiday in 1777 by the Continental Congress. In 1941, the U.S. Congress proclaimed that the fourth Thursday of November is the official day to celebrate Thanksgiving Day.
Although Thanksgiving is an American-specific holiday, countries around the world show their gratitude on special days, as well.
Canada’s Thanksgiving is called the Fete de Grace, or Harvest Home Festival and falls on the same day as Columbus Day in the United States. It is an annual Canadian holiday to give thanks at the close of the harvest season
In Asia, Japan celebrates Labor Thanksgiving Day (勤労感謝の)on November 23. It is an occasion for commemorating labor and production and giving one another thanks. Local elementary students create drawings and bring them to the local police station.
The Chinese celebrate Chung Ch'ui (which literally means “the middle of Autumn”) during harvest time. It is celebration of the birth of the moon. Chinese people pay visits to their older relatives, do housekeeping, visit tombs, set up altars for the ancestors and eat moon cakes.
In Brazil, every fourth Thursday of November, the Dia Nacional de Acao de Gracas is celebrated. According to my research, when the “Ambassador of Brazil visited U.S. at the invitation of National Cathedral of Washington, D.C., he was enamored by the concept of Thanksgiving and brought it to his homeland.”
In Switzerland, the Federal Day of Thanks, Penance, and Prayer (Eidgenössischer Dank- Buss- und Bettag), is celebrated on the 3rd Sunday in September each year. This is considered a high holy day.
Germany gives thanks during Erntedankfest, which occurs on the 1st Sunday in October. This holiday celebrates the end of harvest time and involves the creation of displays of fruit, bread and grains that are set up to show gratitude for God’s grace and kindness. Afterwards, all the produce is donated to the needy.
In the British Isles, they celebrate Lammas Day, one of the oldest medieval festivals. It is a feast with pagan origins. The end of the growing season and the gathering of the harvest are celebrated. Bread is baked and placed it on church altars as offerings and dolls are made out of grain. These dolls are then planted in the spring to ensure a plentiful crop.
South Africans celebrate Incwala in December. This festival is also called the Festival of the Fruits and lasts for six days. Priests gather foam and salt water from the ocean, men cut down branches of the Lusekwane tree and there is lots of dancing and chanting.
In Israel, Sukkoth is celebrated at the end of September-early October. This holiday is named for the huts used by Mohammed and the Israelites as they wandered for forty years in search of the promised land. Each year, families create these small huts, fill them with fruits and vegetables and then they eat dinner in these huts for the first two nights of this eight day festival.
Thanksgiving Day is celebrated in Liberia on November 3 and it shadows the same traditions of the American Thanksgiving day. Liberia was founded in the XIX century by freed slaves from the United States. Because of this, Liberia was never under the power of Europe like other African countries. Liberia became colonized under the American Colonization Society between 1821 and 1822 and it was intended to be a place for slaves freed in the United States and that wanted to immigrate to Africa in search of more personal freedom and equality as citizens. So, on Thanksgiving Day, the Liberians show gratitude to God and America for their freedom and for the creation of Liberia.
Certain holidays are specific to certain countries but gratitude is expressed globally. It appears that the one thing that all the countries have in common is that the more gratitude you show for what you have, the more that comes to you...
Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!
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