Americans observed Thanksgiving last Thursday in an extended weekend during which Guyanese family members took turns hosting dinners for relatives. Thanksgiving is a holiday celebrated on the fourth Thursday of every November. It is usually observed with family reunions, church services, feasts, charitable offerings, and watching the parade of cartoon characters. Guyanese and other immigrants in America have good reason to give thanks to America which has been welcoming them for decades. Since their arrival in the U.S, Guyanese have been successful at not only attaining high levels of achievement in various fields, but contributing to the economy with taxes and sharing their earnings with the poorer sections of American society. This is their way of giving thanks for their presence and well being in the U.S. And as they do with all other festivals, they celebrate the Thanksgiving festival in their own way with their own cuisine and drinks.

Thanksgiving Day is a historical celebration in the U.S going back to the 1600s since the early settlement of North America by Europeans. It is also a national holiday, a kind of a religious day (though not denominational). The holiday really grew out of the harvest celebrations of England and is celebrated in the Fall, the end of harvest in the Southern U.S. The early English immigrants introduced it in the U.S giving thanks for the harvest and the blessings of the past year. Every wave of immigrants, including recent arrivals like Guyanese settled in the NY metropolitan region, have joined in the celebration by adding their own ethnic flavour giving thanks (with charities and prayers) and to the traditional cuisine, music, drinks and entertainment.

Guyanese have good reason to give thanks to America which began accepting them during the period of the dictatorship until today. America has been kind and receptive to them. These Guyanese have “made it” in America living a much higher standard of life in NY. Once they land in the U.S, they shed the lackadaisical attitude of life in Guyana and quickly become hard working, not depending on government handouts for their survival. Many even work at two jobs and pursue higher education. They contribute a lot more in taxes than in the benefits they receive. Many have become successful entrepreneurs in a very short time after arrival. And many are enrolled in colleges and universities and joining the ranks of professionals (in medicine, law, engineering, and computer technology) with some of the highest salaries in the nation.

Guyanese view Thanksgiving as an occasion for family reunion and big dinners. Relatives normally take turns hosting dinner over a four day period from Thursday to Sunday. The thanksgiving dinner normally includes the traditional baked or roasted turkey. Guyanese normally supplement the meals with their own traditional ethnic dishes including dhal puri, pachounie, phulourie, bara, fried rice, chowmein, and fried channa as snacks and their favorite drinks — mauby and sorrel for the children and lots of good Caribbean rum for the adults. For desert, there is black cake, pumpkin pie, rasmalai, gulab jamoon, etc. And it is not unusual for them to substitute the turkey with curried duck, chicken, mutton, and goat, etc.

All religious denominations observe Thanksgiving, including Muslims and Hindus. And giving is part of the Guyanese culture. And they donate food to shelters and host dinners for the unfortunate. Christian churches also host dinners for the poor and homeless. Although a small community, Guyanese give a lot during thanksgiving. Giving back to society is considered part of their duty. And they do not restrict their giving only to their own kind. Many Indo-Guyanese used the Thanksgiving occasion to give generously to the charities of their choice, including the Red Cross and the American Cancer Institute, in addition to their local mandir, masjid and church. Others send money to friends and relatives in Guyana. Some bake turkeys and cakes which are donated to homeless shelters. Others donate foods at pantries and offer services giving out food to the poor. Their assistance helps to ease social problems such as hunger, poverty and homelessness in the city.

Thanksgiving is usually celebrated with the largest parade in the nation on Fifth Avenue, featuring all kinds of magnificent floats and balloons of cartoon characters and a host of Hollywood celebrities and sports stars. It normally attracts a large number of Guyanese with people glued to TVs which carried live broadcast of the parade.

By observing the festival, Guyanese participated in a mainstream American celebration in the same manner that they celebrate their own traditional festivals such as Phagwah, Deepavali, Eid, Qurbani, Christmas, etc. They want to give thanks for the progress they have made in America.
VISHNU BISRAM