Canada’s version of Turkey Day
If you’ve ever seen How I Met Your Mother, you may know that there’s a holiday in Canada called Canadian Thanksgiving. We aren’t copying the Americans, it’s a real thing. I swear.
It was created because some guy called Martin Frobisher (who was a pirate) went looking for a “New World” and found his way to Canada.
He had a feast because he didn’t die getting from New England to Newfoundland.
It’s for the harvest not the pilgrims- Canada made it first.
It’s actually very European because they have traditions of festivals of “harvest and thanks”. Martin came 43 years before the pilgrims came to America.
Canada was the first to harvest cranberries.
The Algonquin, Chippewa and and Cree tribes brought “ibimi”- sour berries as a gift, to British Colombia and Quebec to the European settlers because they were used for so much, like dyes, cakes, teas, medicine and a substitute for tobacco.
It takes place on the second Monday in October.
We don’t like having our feasts close together, so we try keeping Thanksgiving further away from Christmas than the Americans (*cough* November 26th?! A month away from Christmas? What are you guys thinking?!).
Canadian football league- there is a special game on the day called the “Thanksgiving day Classic.” (Go Argonauts!)
It gives people a opportunity to get away from awkward, lagging conversations arisen from mandatory Thanksgiving family reunions.
Les Quebecois don’t really celebrate it. Ugh, French Canadians…
Céline Dion is French Canadian btw.
And Canadians don’t eat, drink and breath only maple syrup- we just use it in the turkey.
And in the ham… and our pumpkin pies… okay and the pork too… and with maple butter tarts… and in yams… and in the pumpkin soup.
Okay, I’m going to shut up now. Happy Canadian Thanksgiving!
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