THANKSGIVING IN AFRICA: My Childhood experience
The Thanksgiving holiday is one of my favorites. On the holiday, you eat and eat again until you can eat no more. The celebration continues for two or three more days and that means more food. There is plenty of Turkey meat in every meal and other side dishes. If you are in America, you will understand why in a comic advert, Turkey was seen recommending chicken for better health. Almost every family consumes a full Turkey during this season. But the food is not the best part for me. It is the fellowship, the opportunity to enjoy time with family and friends, watch the parades and take a break from work and all the hassles of life. To the Lord, we Americans give thanks.
In all of Africa, Liberia is the only country that celebrates an official Thanksgiving Day like the US, with Christian church services and a harvest-themed feast featuring traditional and American foods. This is due to its historical ties to the US, as a country founded by freed American slaves and other peoples of color. While the US celebrates thanksgiving on the 4th Thursday of every November, the people of Liberia celebrate theirs during the first Thursday of November, a tradition that dates back to the 1880s.
Other countries of Africa, however, have special occasions for thanksgiving, mostly ancient harvest festivals that embody similar values of gratitude and community. For example, among the Igbo ethnic group of West Africa where I grew up, there is the Iri ji (or Iwa ji) festival - the new yam festival where people gather at the village square to thank Chukwu (God Almighty) for the past planting season’s harvest blessings, especially for bountiful yam (ji) harvests. Until this festival is celebrated, eating new yams is forbidden and natives will depend on the old yam reserved in their bans for their upkeep.
The Ga people of Ghana celebrate the Homowo Festival, which translates to "hooting at hunger". This festival commemorates a time when the Ga people faced a severe famine and subsequently had a successful harvest. This celebration which lasts for several days between May and August involves preparing a feast with traditional dishes like palm nut fish soup and a corn-powder delicacy. Festivities include parades and a traditional dance called Kpanlogo.
While there is no single "Thanksgiving" holiday in Central Africa, several regions have harvest and gratitude festivals that serve a similar purpose, such as Umuganura in Rwanda, which celebrates sharing. The Umuganura, or "Day of Sharing," traditional harvest festival takes place during the month of August.
The most popular Thanksgiving celebration in East Africa is Irreecha, a festival of thanksgiving celebrated by the Oromo people in Ethiopia and Kenya. This festival marks the end of the rainy season and the start of spring, where people gather at sacred lakes to thank God (Waaqa) for the past year's blessings.
.Unlike the United States, South Africa does not have an official Thanksgiving holiday. Some South Africans, however, have adopted the Thanksgiving tradition, blending it with local customs. The most popular form of thanksgiving is the celebration of Heritage Day on September 24th, which honors the country's diverse cultures and involves sh
As a kid, growing up in my father’s church, an African Church, we were forbidden from celebrating the Iri Ji festival of the Igbo ethnic group. According to the church's belief at that time, doing so was worldly and sinful as it was believed to be accompanied by fetishes. During my adult years, while an unbeliever, I discovered that the festivities of the Iri Ji Festival were fun. There was generous sharing of yam based delicacies, different traditional dances by women, men and youth. I looked for the fetishes and I did not see any. All I saw was pure fun and people trying to enjoy life, giving thanks. Since I got saved after 13 years of unbelief, I have not been able to participate in this ceremony, to watch more closely with the eye of a born again Christian and to see if my perspective will return to that of my father’s church. I however trust that the culture has been redeemed, with all fetishes gone and only Thanksgiving left.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Rev Joshua Amaezechi, an ordained Minister in the Christian Reformed Church of North America (CRCNA), serving as the President of the LEMA Institute, a mission organization that trains pastors and leaders in Africa and the US. Also, he served formerly as Pastor, Calvary Community Church, Plainwell and the Head Chaplain at the Kalamazoo County Jail, Michigan through the Forgotten Jail Ministries.
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