Thanksgiving In North America

When was the first Thanksgiving celebrated in North America? History provides several possibilities. For most folks in the United States the answer would be 1621. That's the year early European settlers called Pilgrims hosted a 3-day feast near present-day Plymouth, Massachusetts to celebrate their first harvest in the New World.

However, an earlier Thanksgiving had already taken place in Spanish North America.  In 1598 an expedition of colonists led by Adelantado Don Juan de Oñate marched from Santa Barbara, México across the Chihuahuan Desert and reached the Río Bravo del Norte near what is now San Elizario, Texas.  A day-long thanksgiving feast was ordered to celebrate the safe arrival of the expedition following the treacherous 50-day journey.  Some historians mark this event as the beginning of Spanish colonization of the American Southwest.

But from a Canadian perspective the first Thanksgiving goes back further still. That's because in 1578 a flotilla of settlers led by English navigator Sir Martin Frobisher anchored in what is now Frobisher Bay in the present-day Canadian territory of Nunavut. There they held a Thanksgiving ceremony to celebrate their safe arrival following the difficult voyage.

There is much to be thankful for in this world, so I for one am happy to have several Thanksgivings on the calendar to celebrate during the year:

• 30 April - Thanksgiving Day feast by new settlers in Spanish North America (1598)
• 2nd Monday in October - Traditional Thanksgiving Day holiday, Canada
• 4th Thursday in November - Traditional Thanksgiving Day holiday, U.S.A.