It is always interesting to talk about different traditions when we talk about cultures and the differences between them. One of these traditions, which is very important to most Americans, is Thanksgiving celebration. It takes place on the last Thursday of November, and it includes, among other things, feasting, four-day weekends, family reunions, or a forerunner to Christmas festivities. However, the “first Thanksgiving,” was neither a feast nor a holiday, but a simple gathering. Its origin dates back to the Mayflower’s arrival at Plymouth Rock on December 11, 1620, when the Pilgrims suffered the loss of 46 of their original 102 colonists. With the help of 91 Indians, the remaining Pilgrims survived the bitter winter and yielded a bountiful harvest in 1621. In celebration, the Plymouth colonists and Wampanoag Native Americans shared an autumn harvest gathering that is acknowledged today as one of the first Thanksgiving celebrations in the colonies.

Thanksgiving, as it is celebrated now, was proclaimed a National holiday in 1789 by George Washington. During the Civil War, it was President Abraham Lincoln who declared Thanksgiving:

As a day of Thanksgiving and Praise to our beneficent Father who dwelleth in the Heavens. And I recommend to them that while offering up the ascriptions justly due to Him for such singular deliverances and blessings […]

                                                                                                            
The meaning of Thanksgiving has undergone countless transitions: an expression of gratitude for survival, submission of the local natives, the defeat over the British, etc. But over the centuries, families added their customs to the Thanksgiving celebration, preserving that which they considered most precious: To gather in unity, to teach the young and to prepare the heart. They also added a traditional Thanksgiving menu, with turkey, cranberry sauce, stuffing, and pumpkin pie taking up the most real estate on the Americans’ plate.

At Glocal Translators, we think Thanksgiving Day is the perfect time to remind one another of the many reasons there are to be grateful, and to get back to what really matters in life. The Glocal Translator’s team wishes you a joyous day of Thanksgiving with family and friends!

Happy Thanksgiving!