We recently enjoyed the American holiday of Thanksgiving, a harvest festival celebrating the Plymouth colonists and the Wampanoag natives. Although the colonists first celebrated Thanksgiving in 1621, in 1941 congress established that Thanksgiving be celebrated the fourth Thursday of every November. Thanksgiving is also celebrated by Canada under the same name, the Americas thanksgiving being celebrated as a harvest festival with a feast of foods indigenous to the north Americas. The holiday is celebrated with family to “give thanks” for everything you have, but you probably already know this if you have celebrated this holiday before. How do other cultures celebrate Thanksgiving?

Korea celebrates Chuseok, a three day holiday celebrated on the 15th day and 8th month of the lunar calendar. Those who participate in Chuseok celebrate with their families, usually traveling back to their ancestral home towns to pay respect to the spirits of their ancestors by cleaning the tomb of their immediate ancestors and by offering food and drink. 

Asogli Te Za (yam festival) is celebrated annually in the Volta region of Ghana. Every September the Asogoli people celebrate the cultivation of the yam when the Ghana people migrated from the republic of the Tongo. The yam festival is celebrated with traditional music, dance, storytelling and a mass assembly. 

Here in America this holiday season is much different than how we’ve celebrated before, safety is on everyone’s minds making visiting family difficult. Health being the top priority, large gatherings are not recommended, but family is still important, this Thanksgiving season it’s still important to be thankful for the things we have. Life goes on, don’t let current circumstances darken the joy that comes with the holidays.