Thanksgiving is celebrated on the 4th Thursday of November, which this year (2004) is November 25th.
Thanksgiving Day: Fourth Thursday in November
Almost every culture in the world has held celebrations of thanks for a plentiful harvest. The American Thanksgiving holiday began as a feast of thanksgiving in the early days of the American colonies almost four hundred years ago.
In 1620, a boat filled with more than one hundred people sailed across the Atlantic Ocean to settle in the New World(新大陸). This religious group had begun to question the beliefs of the Church of England and they wanted to separate from it. The Pilgrims settled in what is now the state of Massachusetts. Their first winter in the New World was difficult. They had arrived too late to grow many crops, and without fresh food, half the colony died from disease. The following spring the Iroquois Indians(美國紐約州東北部易洛魁族印第安人)taught them how to grow corn, a new food for the colonists. They showed them other crops to grow in the unfamiliar soil and how to hunt and fish.
In the autumn of 1621, bountiful crops of corn, barley(大麥), beans and pumpkins were harvested. The colonists had much to be thankful for, so a feast was planned. They invited the local Indian chief and 90 Indians. The Indians brought deer to roast with the turkeys and other wild game offered by the colonists. The colonists had learned how to cook cranberries and different kinds of corn and squash dishes from the Indians. To this first Thanksgiving, the Indians had even brought popcorn.
In following years, many of the original colonists celebrated the autumn harvest with a feast of thanks.
After the United States became an independent country, Congress recommended one yearly day of thanksgiving for the whole nation to celebrate. George Washington suggested the date November 26 as Thanksgiving Day. Then in 1863, at the end of a long and bloody civil war, Abraham Lincoln asked all Americans to set aside the last Thursday in November as a day of thanksgiving.
Thanksgiving falls on the fourth Thursday of November, a different date every year. The President must proclaim that date as the official celebration.
Thanksgiving is a time for tradition and sharing. Even if they live far away, family members gather for a reunion at the house of an older relative. All give thanks together for the good things that they have.
In this spirit of sharing, civic groups and charitable organizations offer a traditional meal to those in need, particularly the homeless. On most tables throughout the United States, foods eaten at the first thanksgiving have become traditional.
Symbols of Thanksgiving
Turkey, corn, pumpkins and cranberry sauce(酸果曼沙司)are symbols which represent the first Thanksgiving. Now all of these symbols are drawn on holiday decorations and greeting cards. The use of corn meant the survival of the colonies. "Indian corn" as a table or door decoration represents the harvest and the fall season.
Sweet-sour cranberry sauce, or cranberry jelly, was on the first Thanksgiving table and is still served today. The cranberry is a small, sour berry. It grows in bogs(沼澤), or muddy areas, in Massachusetts and other New England states. The Indians used the fruit to treat infections. They used the juice to dye their rugs and blankets. They taught the colonists how to cook the berries with sweetener(甜味佐料)and water to make a sauce. The Indians called it "ibimi" which means "bitter berry." When the colonists saw it, they named it "crane-berry" because the flowers of the berry bent the stalk over, and it resembled the long-necked bird called a crane. The berries are still grown in New England.
In 1988, a Thanksgiving ceremony of a different kind took place at the Cathedral of St. John the Divine. More than four thousand people gathered on Thanksgiving night. Among them were Native Americans representing tribes from all over the country and descendants of people whose ancestors had migrated to the New World.
The ceremony was a public acknowledgment of the Indians' role in the first Thanksgiving 350 years ago. Until recently most schoolchildren believed that the Pilgrims cooked the entire Thanksgiving feast, and offered it to the Indians. In fact, the feast was planned to thank the Indians for teaching them how to cook those foods. Without the Indians, the first settlers would not have survived.
感恩節(jié)是11月4日(星期四)，今年(2004年)11月25日慶祝。
感恩節(jié)：11月第四次星期四
幾乎每一個在世界上的文化有一個好收成舉行慶祝致謝。美國感恩節(jié)假期將近四百年前開始在美國殖民地初期，作為一個感恩節(jié)盛宴。
1620年，填補了超過百人乘船橫跨大西洋的新世界(新大陸)定居。這個宗教群體已開始質(zhì)疑英國教會的信仰，他們要分開。朝圣者在什么是現(xiàn)在的馬薩諸塞州定居。他們在新的世界的第一個冬天是困難的。他們來得太遲，長出許多作物，不新鮮的食品，殖民地的一半死于疾病。次年春天易洛魁印第安人(美國紐約州東北部易洛魁族印第安人)教他們?nèi)绾畏N植玉米，一個新的食物，殖民者。他們發(fā)現(xiàn)他們其他作物生長在陌生的土壤和如何狩獵和魚。
在1621秋天，收獲玉米，大麥(大麥)豐富多樣的作物，豆類和南瓜。移民們多少要感謝，所以計劃的盛宴。他們邀請當?shù)氐挠〉诎睬蹰L和90印度人。印第安人帶來鹿烤火雞和其他殖民者所提供的野味。移民們學會了如何煮紅莓和不同類型的玉米和南瓜菜從印地安人。這第一個感恩節(jié)，印度人，甚至帶來了爆米花。
在隨后的幾年中，許多原來的殖民者慶祝秋收的感謝宴。
美國成為一個獨立國家后，美國國會建議每年的感恩節(jié)當天為全國慶祝。喬治華盛頓建議的日期11月26日感恩節(jié)。然后在1863年，亞伯拉罕林肯在結(jié)束了曠日持久的血腥內(nèi)戰(zhàn)，要求所有美國人撥出11月的最后一個星期四的感恩節(jié)。
感恩節(jié)落在每年十一月第四個星期四，在不同的日期�？偨y(tǒng)必須宣布該日的正式慶�；顒印�
感恩節(jié)是一個傳統(tǒng)和共享的時間。即使他們住得很遠，家庭成員聚集在長輩的房子團聚。所有感謝一起為他們的好東西。
在這種共享的精神，民間團體和慈善機構提供了一個傳統(tǒng)膳食有需要的人士，特別是無家可歸者。整個美國的大多數(shù)表，在第一個感恩節(jié)吃的食物已成為傳統(tǒng)。
感恩節(jié)的符號
土耳其，玉米，南瓜和紅莓醬(酸果曼沙司)代表第一個感恩節(jié)的符號�，F(xiàn)在所有這些符號上繪制節(jié)日裝飾和賀卡。玉米的使用意味著殖民地的生存。“印度玉米”作為一個表或門裝飾代表收獲的金秋時節(jié)。
酸甜的紅莓醬，或蔓越莓果凍，是在第一個感恩節(jié)表，如今仍擔任。蔓越莓是一種小型，酸漿果。它生長在沼澤(沼澤)，或泥濘的領域，在馬薩諸塞州和新英格蘭州。印度人用于治療感染的水果。他們所使用的果汁染料的地毯和毯子。他們教殖民者如何烹制甜味劑(甜味佐料)和水，使醬的漿果。印度人把它叫做“ibimi”，這意味著“苦漿果。”當殖民者看見了，他們把它命名為“鶴莓”，因為漿果花彎曲柄，和它類似的長頸鳥稱為起重機。漿果生長在新英格蘭。