Most people see Thanksgiving as a wholly-American tradition. While this is generally true south of the 49th parallel, Canadian history offers a small caveat involving, of all things, pirates. And while the image of the swashbuckling Thanksgving pirate never really gained much of a public association with the holiday, there’s a wholly Canadian story of giving thanks that ties in directly with piracy long before our nation’s founding.
The American holiday celebrates the Pilgrims of Plymouth Rock giving thanks to God for a bountiful harvest, and this has no doubt had a massive influence in the way Canadians see Thanksgiving. But while the event of Plymouth Rock happened in 1621, 43 years earlier in 1578, pirate/explorer Martin Frobisher commanded a flotilla of 15 ships and 400 men across the Atlantic and landed on Baffin Island in what is now Nunavut territory.
At the time, Frobisher was tasked with leading an expedition to find the elusive Northwest Passage to help England extend its colonial reach out further across the world. While one of the ships was reported to have sunk due to ice collisions and another broke from the flotilla and returned to England, the 13 remaining ships made the journey and managed to successfully make port in what is now known as Frobisher Bay. With the aim of setting up one of the first English colonies in North America and with the successful opening of 2 mines on The Countess of Warwick’s Island (now known as Kodlunarn Island), spirits were high. The assembled crew decided to celebrate their good fortune with a feast to give thanks to God for seeing them safely across so dangerous a voyage.
As time went on afterwards, the events of Plymouth Rock gave rise to the traditional American Thanksgiving. Over in Canada at the time, there was a growing sentiment that the citizens of Canada should be thankful that they were not caught in a bloody civil war like their neighbours to the south. The patriotism inspiring the Canadian Thanksgiving took a bit of the focus of thanks off of God, and that sentiment eventually worked its way into America due to the nation’s proximity to the States. Over more time, the focus for both American and Canadian Thanksgivings has been slowly shying away from the original religious intent of the holiday, and the broad, general notion of “Thanks” was picked up by more and more changing realities tied to both nations (some specific to each nation, others that both nations shared).
Today in both Canada and the United States, Thanksgiving still holds much of its original religious focus, but a great deal of that focus has been more and more geared towards thanks towards people’s direct or even national community. Some have lamented this change, while others have celebrated it. Either way, each country’s Thanksgiving helped mold the other, and the two dates have become national hallmarks--both tied to the same original ideas, but each celebrating their own national roots more and more as time goes on. However despite the differences, both Canada and the United States share the basic tradition of an Autumn celebration thanking the goodness of their neighbours—which, in its own strange way, allows both nations to feel an independent, communal pride while at the same time emphasizing a shared quirk between the two nations.
So, my fellow Canadians: This Thanksgiving, be sure to recognize Canada’s growth alongside America, recognize that America has influenced Canada just as much as we’ve influenced her, and celebrate these two nations’ friendly international relations. Canada and America have both grew from their intertwined pasts; may we both continue to grow well together into a prosperous future.