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November 25, 2003

THANKSGIVING　(感謝祭・Dia de las graciasについて)

(2)

カテゴリ：カテゴリ未分類

いよいよ今週の木曜日はサンクスギビング（日本語で感謝祭)です。　アメリカの祝日の中でも7月4日(独立記念日)、クリスマスと並んで1年の中でもかなり重要な日です。　毎年11月の第4木曜日と決められています。

普段離れて暮らしている家族もこの日は集合して、ターキー(七面鳥)を中心としたご馳走を食べます。　アメリカ中の人たちがとにかくターキーを食べます。　サンクスギビングに向けては貧しい人にターキーディナーを贈るための募金も存在すれば、当日ホームレスのシェルターでもターキーディナーが配給されます。　日本のお正月にみんながお餅を食べるように、アメリカ人はターキーとマッシュポテトとコーンとパンプキンパイを食べるのです。

サンクスギビングの由来については下記の英文を参照していただきますが、要は17世紀にイギリスからメイフラワー号にのって新世界アメリカ大陸へやってきたピルグリム(移民)がマサチューセッツに植民地を作り、そこでインディアンに食物を差し入れてもらって助けられて厳しい冬を乗り切り、インディアンに習って農作物を栽培して生活の基盤を作ることができたのを祝って催した盛大な饗宴に由来したアメリカらしい歴史的な記念日です。　なので、この日にはアメリカ土着の素材（ターキー、コーン、イモ類など）を使った料理を囲んで家族友人がそれをシェアし、お腹いっぱい食事をするのが現在の習慣です。

というわけで、アメリカに家族のいない我が家はいつも家族同然の仲良しの友人宅で毎年サンクスギビングを過ごしており、今年も例にもれずカリフォルニアに行ってきま～～す!

The Pilgrims， who set sail from Plymouth， England on a ship called the Mayflower on September 6， 1620， were fortune hunters， bound for the resourceful ’New World’. The Mayflower was a small ship crowded with men， women and children， besides the sailors on board. Aboard were passengers comprising the ’separatists’， who called themselves the "Saints"， and others， whom the separatists called the "Strangers".

After land was sighted in November following 66 days of a lethal voyage， a meeting was held and an agreement of truce was worked out. It was called the Mayflower Compact. The agreement guaranteed equality among the members of the two groups. They merged together to be recognized as the "Pilgrims." They elected John Carver as their first governor.

Although Pilgrims had first sighted the land off Cape Cod， Massachusetts， they did not settle until they arrived at a place called Plymouth. It was Captain John Smith who named the place after the English port-city in 1614 and had already settled there for over five years. And it was there that the Pilgrims finally decided to settle. Plymouth offered an excellent harbor and plenty of resources. The local Indians were also non-hostile.

But their happiness was short-lived. Ill-equipped to face the winter on this estranged place they were ravaged thoroughly.

Somehow they were saved by a group of local Native Americans who befriended them and helped them with food. Soon the natives taught the settlers the technique to cultivate corns and grow native vegetables， and store them for hard days. By the next winter they had raised enough crops to keep them alive. The winter came and passed by without much harm. The settlers knew they had beaten the odds and it was time to celebrate.

They celebrated it with a grand community feast wherein the friendly native Americans were also invited. It was kind of a harvest feast， the Pilgrims used to have in England. The recipes entail "corn" (wheat， by the Pilgrims usage of the word)， Indian corn， barley， pumpkins and peas， "fowl" (specially "waterfowl")， deer， fish. And yes， of course the yummy wild turkey.
However， the third year was real bad when the corns got damaged. Pilgrim Governor William Bradford ordered a day of fasting and prayer， and rain happened to follow soon. To celebrate - November 29th of that year was proclaimed a day of thanksgiving. This date is believed to be the real beginning of the present Thanksgiving Day.

Though the Thanksgiving Day is presently celebrated on the fourth Thursday of every November. This date was set by President Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1939 (approved by Congress in 1941). Earlier it was the last Thursday in November as was designated by the former President Abraham Lincoln. But sometimes the last Thursday would turn out to be the fifth Thursday of the month. This falls too close to the Christmas， leaving the businesses even less than a month’s time to cope up with the two big festivals. Hence the change.

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