Thanksgiving in the United States is a time for togetherness and for being with family. Perhaps, more importantly, it is a time to stuff oneself with as much turkey and mashed potatoes as humanly possible in a single meal, while simultaneously consuming the most American of sports — football. Bearing in mind that many Hamilton College students are from Canada,
The Spectator
decided to take a look at what our neighbors up north think of our hallowed, somewhat extravagant holiday.
Justin Felhaber ’21 was born and raised in Ottawa Valley, Canada. A forward for the Hamilton hockey team, he has spent a large amount of time in the United States, attending high school and now college here. As such, he is relatively familiar with the general practices of American Thanksgiving. The main difference, he says, is the timing of the holiday.
“In Canada, Thanksgiving takes place during October,” he says, whereas American Thanksgiving happens “during Canadian buck season.” The Felhaber family has already landed two moose and one buck this year.
Additionally, the “baggage” of Canadian Thanksgiving isn’t quite as heavy. Whereas Thanksgiving in the United States sometimes sparks conversations about past practices of colonialism, Canadian Thanksgiving “avoids that hoopla,” and ends up being a nice “feeling-together sort of holiday.”
Canadians held their first Thanksgiving around the time of the American Civil War to celebrate thankfulness for
not
being part of a United States that was embroiled in war. Felhaber also commented on the similarities between the foods served at Canadian and American Thanksgiving. The Felhaber household celebrates Thanksgiving with turkey and “mashed potatoes whipped up nice and fresh by Cousin Curtis.” One minor point of divergence; “I think we’ll skip the cranberry sauce and just go straight for the gravy on turkey.”
Another difference is that Canadian Thanksgiving is stretched out over two days, Sunday and Monday, rather than one. Not only does this mean that Canadians get the Monday off rather than a Thursday, as in the United States, but Felhaber realizes it is “convenient, let’s say, if you want to see both sides of the family separately.”
Perhaps the biggest difference between Thanksgiving in Canada in the United States is the sports people watch during each. Whereas many American households watch football games on Thanksgiving Day, Canadians prefer slightly different fare. In Canada, “little wigglers and adults alike like to gather around the TV and watch the Leafs,” a hockey team in the NHL based in Toronto, Canada. Additionally, “we don’t exactly sit around
and toss the pigskin with our family after a big meal,” says Felhaber. He wishes he could say that families all around Pembroke, a small city in Ontario, gather round to watch a Lumber Kings ice hockey game on Thanksgiving, but “unfortunately,” he says, “that is one of our lower attended events.”
Ultimately, Felhaber dodged the question when asked if he had any desire to attend an American Thanksgiving, preferring instead to point out several of the better aspects of Canadian Thanksgiving, namely the fact that it is a two-day holiday.
Canadian and American Thanksgiving each have unique traditions, whether it be watching hockey instead of football or celebrating a 48-hour-long holiday. Whether you are above or below the 49th parallel, there are several ways to celebrate this much-anticipated holiday. Still, at the conclusion of the interview, one couldn’t help but feel there are more similarities between our two countries’ versions of this iconic holiday than not.
