Thursday, November 25th is Thanksgiving. It is one of the most commercialized holidays in the world, second only to perhaps Christmas. It is a day of eating turkey, watching football, and surprising religious overtones.

Thanksgiving was begun as a religious feast, and although the prayers have gotten much shorter, the concept of giving thanks– the thanks giving– has survived. In fact, it may be the most religious secular holiday there is.

An interesting misconception about the day is that most people envision pilgrims with prim caps and shiny shoe buckles, while in fact these were the pilgrims counterparts, the Puritans. The pilgrims were far less prim and proper in dress and manners, actually.

Another irony is that the day originally served to give thanks to not dying by celebrating with a feast for pilgrims and Native Americans alike that lasted for three days. Not even decades later, the pilgrims were running the Native Americans out of their homelands. If that’s not being an ungracious host, I don’t know what is.

Interestingly enough, Thanksgiving is celebrated in strange parts of the world. The United States is obviously its homeland, but the holiday also has a following in Canada, and a similar holiday in the Netherlands.

So eat your turkey and be merry, but please, leave the Native Americans alone.

For more information about the tradition and its origins, click here.