What IS thanksgiving?

[margitrichert]

Excuse my ignorance, but what is thanksgiving all about? I'm sure it sounds outrageous for you americans that there are people who doesn't know anything about your traditions, but as a swedish girl who hasn't been outside europe it's a bit hard to understand the idea. I know about the turkey-part and something about the pilgrims but it's all muddled up for me. Please bear with me and explain!

 

[greasetea]

Re: What isn't thanksgiving

Thanksgiving is what we Americans (The Canadians celebrate it another day but the reasons are the same) call "the rejoice of slaughtering the NAtive Americans."

They came over, killed the native americans with knives, stole their food and raped their women.

But in school we make hand turkey drawings and eat lots of scumpkin pie.

We also celebrate "Injuns" in cinema by making them sing funny songs and saying "How!" a lot.

Fun Fact: Didja know that most Native Americans died not by direct violence by the newcomers, they died because of the diseases indiginous to the Europeans. So when you hear a NAtive American whine about their predescessor being offed with a shiv, just say, "Yeah right, they died because of a virus."

 

[Ereth]

Re: A Special Day to Give Thanks!

> Excuse my ignorance, but what is thanksgiving all about? I'm
> sure it sounds outrageous for you americans that there are
> people who doesn't know anything about your traditions, but as a
> swedish girl who hasn't been outside europe it's a bit hard to
> understand the idea. I know about the turkey-part and something
> about the pilgrims but it's all muddled up for me. Please bear
> with me and explain!

Duh

 

[Ereth]

Re: hand jive

> But in school we make hand turkey drawings

This year?

 

[greasetea]

Re: hand jive

Hell yeah swedish fish, in fact, i made myself a paper pilgrim helmet until the teacher asked me to leave because I was stealing everyone's candy corn...and for the fact that a mid 20's drunkard shouldn't be hanging out with elemenatry school kids.

 

[margitrichert]

Re: What isn't thanksgiving

> Thanksgiving is what we Americans (The Canadians celebrate it
> another day but the reasons are the same) call "the rejoice
> of slaughtering the NAtive Americans."

> They came over, killed the native americans with knives, stole
> their food and raped their women.

Oh, now I see why Americans seem to love it so much!

> But in school we make hand turkey drawings and eat lots of
> scumpkin pie.

Do you actually eat pumpkin in the states?! That's quite discusting!

> We also celebrate "Injuns" in cinema by making them
> sing funny songs and saying "How!" a lot.

Seen that. When I was a child I really believed in Disney's Hiawata or whatever his name was.

> Fun Fact: Didja know that most Native Americans died not by
> direct violence by the newcomers, they died because of the
> diseases indiginous to the Europeans. So when you hear a NAtive
> American whine about their predescessor being offed with a shiv,
> just say, "Yeah right, they died because of a virus."

Thanks for your explanation. That's what I always suspected about thanksgiving, but I didn't know for sure. Happy thanksgiving. Or is it over now?

 

[Uncle Sam]

> Excuse my ignorance, but what is thanksgiving all about?
It's nothing about the Pilgrim Fathers, the Mayflower or 1620. It's to celebrate the of the Second World War, which occured on this day in 1947 when Kaiser Wilhelm signed the document of surrender of the Axis forces aboard the US battle cruiser Potemkin in Berlin harbour.

Simple really.

 

[suzanne]

> It's nothing about the Pilgrim Fathers, the Mayflower or 1620.
> It's to celebrate the of the Second World War, which occured on
> this day in 1947 when Kaiser Wilhelm signed the document of
> surrender of the Axis forces aboard the US battle cruiser
> Potemkin in Berlin harbour.

errr....

wasn't it Abe Lincoln who came up with the idea for it?

if what you say is true, there was a lot of forethought put into it.

> Simple really.