by Ava Cron, Sophomore
What is something that you are thankful for? That is a question that you will hear a lot this month because it is the month of thankfulness! Many people in America celebrate thanksgiving on the fourth Thursday of November, but America isn’t the only country with a thanksgiving or harvest festival. Countries all over the world celebrate their own different forms of Thanksgiving at different times of the year with unique customs.
In Canada, on the second Monday of October, they celebrate Thanksgiving but they have their own twist on it. Their celebration isn’t as much as being grateful for the harvest but it is more focused on thanking God for keeping early explorers safe. It is said that Canadian Thanksgiving started before American Thanksgiving dating back to 1578 when English explorer, Martin Frobisher, held a meal to thank God for getting them to North America safely. Today, people celebrate the start of fall, the gathering of family, and the harvest of good food. Thanksgiving in Canada isn’t as sports-driven as Thanksgiving in America because even though they have football games on Thanksgiving day, they don’t have their main sport, hockey, playing on that day. There is no shopping day after Thanksgiving unlike America’s Black Friday because theirs is at the start of October.
Across the Pacific Ocean, India has their own celebration harvests called the Pongal Festival. They celebrate this to thank the sun, mother nature, and other animals that help harvest food. It is a 4-day event and marks the beginning of Thai. Pongal is a dish that is eaten during the festival, and it is made with sweet-boiled rice. The first day of Pongal is called Bhogi, and many people clean out their houses to symbolize new beginnings. Surya is the second day of Pongal. On this day, they honor the sun god. They make pongal and people around the table eat it and yell, “Pongalo Pongal”, and give offerings to the Sun God. The third day of Pongal is called Maatu, and this day is to celebrate the cattle that work hard to plough the land. The cows are bathed and covered in colorful beads, flower garlands, and bells. Kaanum is the last and final day of Pongal. This day honors community and strengthens ties. Families gather together to share meals and thank the harvest.
Over to Germany, Erntedankfest is their way of celebrating harvest. It occurs on the first Sunday of October. Erntedankfest translates to “Thanks for the harvest festival”. It is a religious holiday celebrated in Catholic and Protestant churches. The church altar is decorated with fruit of the harvest and sheaves of wheat. There is singing, celebration, and lantern parades after the second service of the evening at the churches. Many communities choose a harvest queen who wears a crown of wheat and leads the harvest parade.
Next, Ghana celebrates their own harvest festival called Homowo Festival. Homowo means to “hoot or jeer at hunger”. It started with a period of hunger and famine because of no rain where the people of Ga live. After the long drought, when the rain returned, they threw a festival to celebrate. To kick off the festival, farmers and people plant maize. There is no noise allowed the month before the festival. They pray and start fasting during this time. It is also known to disrupt the gods. They eat Palmnut soup and sprinkle it through town. During the celebration, they march down the roads and bang on drums, chant, sing, dance, and there is even face painting.
In South Korea they celebrate Chuseok which is their Thanksgiving day. This is a three day celebration. They honor their ancestors, and celebrate food and family. It is celebrated on the 15th day of the 8th month on the lunar calendar. On Chuseok, they eat rice cakes filled with sweet and savory ingredients steamed on pine needles. Charye is a memorial ceremony where Koreans offer harvested food to honor their ancestors.
There are many different ways to celebrate harvest around the world, and many important moments to show gratitude to the Earth for the harvest we are given each year.
Works Cited:
https://www.indianheritage.gov.sg/pongalo-pongal/what-is-pongal.html
https://germangirlinamerica.com/what-is-erntedankfest
Leave a Reply