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CanadianThanksgiving

On January 31st, 1957, the Canadian Parliament proclaimed...
"A Day of General Thanksgiving to Almighty God for the bountiful harvest with which Canada has been blessed... to be observed on the 2nd Monday in October."

A Brief History 
by Bev Q
Many centuries ago, the farmers in Europe held special celebrations at harvest time.  I remember this tradition as a child growing up in England, we called it 'Harvest Festival' and I recall going in my school uniform to a small Church of England chapel in Little AstonTo give thanks for their good fortune and the abundance of food, the farm workers filled a curved goat's horn with fruit and grain. This symbol was called a cornucopia or horn of plenty. When they came to Canada they brought this tradition with them. Unlike the American tradition of remembering the sacrifice the Pilgrims made to settle in the New World, Canadians give thanks for a successful harvest each year. 

In1578, the English navigator Martin Frobisher held a formal ceremony, in what is now called Newfoundland, to give thanks for surviving the long journey. There is a bay in north-east Canada named after him--Frobisher Bay. Other settlers arrived and continued these same ceremonies to give thanks.

In 1621, Pigrims settled in what is now the USA, celebrated their harvest in the New World. By the 1750's, this joyous celebration of Thanks to God, was brought to Nova Scotia by American settlers from the south. At the same time, French settlers, having crossed the ocean and arrived in Canada with explorer Samuel de Champlain, also held huge feasts of thanks. They even formed 'The Order of Good Cheer' and gladly shared their food with their Indian neighbors.

After the Seven Year's War ended in 1763, the citizens of Halifax, Novia Scotia, held a special day of Thanksgiving. The Americans who remained faithful to the government in England were known as Loyalists. At the time of the American revolution, they moved to Canada and spread theThanksgiving celebration to other parts of Canada, some of my ancestors were among these Loyalists. Many of the new English settlers from Great Britain were used to celebrating the Harvest Festival every autumn, and this all fit in with the new Canadian Thanksgiving.

Eventually in 1879, the Canadian Parliament declared November 6th a day of Thanksgiving and a national holiday. Over the years many dates were used for Thanksgiving.  In 1957, Parliament announced that on the 2nd Monday in October that
Thanksgiving would be "a day of general thanksgiving to almighty God for the bountiful harvest with which Canada has been blessed." 

We celebrate this in our household as I am Canadian, and we celebrate the American Thanksgiving in November as my husband and our children are all US citizens. Lots of good feasting and plenty of thanks for the bountiful harvest in this household. We have been VERY blessed in this life.