PRAIRIE | FRANKIE SANCHEZ

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So it’s that time of the year again, in which we gather around our family and have one of the best dinners of the year, but why do we eat what we eat?

On November 11, the Dining Hall served its Thanksgiving dinner. I decided to ask people what they commonly eat for the holidays and why. I also thought it would be interesting to ask people from different backgrounds and compare answers.

As I asked American students about what they will eat for their Thanksgiving dinner, the most common answers I received were turkey, ham, mashed potatoes, gravy and stuffing. When I asked why they eat this food, these were some of the answers:

“It’s Thanksgiving; it’s tradition,” David Meraz said.

“They passed it on,” Michael Zoch said.

“That’s what they cook every year,” Cashyra Steverson said.

Even though Thanksgiving is an American holiday, I asked some international students about their plans for the holidays and common dinners. I realized that they all eat different things. For example Hieu Vu, a Vietnamese student described his Thanksgiving dinner as, “Rice, meat, beef and some traditional food I have.”

I would also like to share the most interesting conversation I had during the evening. Milan Patel, a Hindu student from Hereford, told me about how her family and she had started celebrating this holiday.

Originally from India, this family started to celebrate Thanksgiving three years ago when Patel asked her father if they could include this holiday in their lives. She explains that she likes to experience new things, reason for why she decided to start celebrating this holiday. When I asked her why Americans celebrated Thanksgiving she said, “I think it is because of Pilgrims in America.”

PRAIRIE | FRANKIE SANCHEZ

As I interviewed all these people, it seemed to me that, although vague, international students seem to have a better idea of what Thanksgiving is all about. Are Americans forgetting why they gather around with their families to eat this delicious dinner? After all, why should internationals know more about this holiday if it is part of the American history and society?

Thanksgiving is more than just tradition; that is why people from different religions, beliefs and countries decide to start celebrating it because it has meaningful values. Let’s not forget about that, and let’s start remembering what it is all about.

Let’s Learn A Little

The Pilgrims that came to this country in the Mayflower were originally members of the English Separatist Church who fled England and sailed to Holland because of religious persecution. Even though they enjoyed more religious tolerance, they did not like the Dutch way of life and thought of it as ungodly. In search for a better life, they negotiated with a London stock company to finance their pilgrimage to America.

On December 11, 1620, the Pilgrims arrived to Plymouth Rock and had to survive a devastating winter, but in 1621, the gravest was a very good one. The remaining colonists decided to celebrate this with a feast to give thanks to the 91 Indians that helped them during their first year.

Then, on November 1777, the First National Thanksgiving Proclamation was signed by Henry Laurence, president of the Continental Congress. This day was set aside for, “That with one heart and one voice the good people may express the grateful feelings of their hearts…” Since then, there has been six National Proclamations of Thanksgiving.

Interesting fact

Although the majority considers turkey as the main dish for this holiday, it was not the main dish during the first Thanksgiving celebrations. The truth is that the only two items that historians agree were present in the menu were deer meat and wild fowl.

How turkey became the main dish:

One of the stories tells that while Queen Elizabeth was celebrating a harvest festival and enjoying a baked goose, she came to know that the Spanish Armada had sunk in its way to attack England. The Queen was so happy that she ordered another goose. This dish became the favorite at harvest celebration in England. When the Pilgrims arrived to America, roasted turkey replaced the goose since it was found abundantly.