Culture
Thanksgiving and Kwanzaa
A
1 Look at the pictures. Which one refers to Thanksgiving and which one to Kwanzaa?
2 Read the texts and check your answers. B The first Thanksgiving celebration was in 1621 to thank Native Americans for helping the Pilgrim Fathers survive the first winter in Plymouth, Massachusetts. They probably ate fruit, vegetables and hunted game. In 1863 Thanksgiving Day became a national holiday, and was set as the fourth Thursday in November in 1941. Today it is less a religious act of thanksgiving and more sharing a great meal with friends and family, but many people volunteer or give thanks for what they have. The dinner is usually roast or deep-fried turkey with stuffing, potatoes, cranberry sauce, corn on the cob, pumpkin pie, or macaroni cheese and pecan pie. There are parades in many cities and the president of Glossary the USA pardons two turkeys out of the 46 million Americans eat each year. Pilgrim Fathers = _______________ It is also an important day for American hunted game = _______________ football matches across the US. stuffing = _______________
Kwanzaa is a festival created in the USA in 1966 by African American professor Dr Maulana Karenga and adopted in the UK in the 1970s. Inspired by a need of African Americans to reaffirm racial and cultural pride in the period of the Black Civil Rights movement, the word means ‘first fruits’ in Swahili and is a kind of thanksgiving, and a celebration of black culture, tradition, family and community. People decorate their homes in the African colours, red, green and black and prepare seven candles to represent the seven days (December 26th to January 1st) and principles of the festival: unity; self-determination; community; cooperation; purpose; creativity and faith. On the final day they have a feast of Afro-Caribbean dishes like spicy gumbo, Glossary jambalaya and jerk stews and exchange presents. pride = ____________ purpose = ____________ faith = ____________ 128 one hundred and twenty-eight
3 Read the texts again and answer the
following questions. 1 When, where and why was the first Thanksgiving celebration? 2 What happened in 1863 and 1941? 3 What do people do today on Thanksgiving? 4 Who created Kwanzaa? When? 5 What does it celebrate? 6 How long does it last?
COMPARING CULTURES 4
K Write an email to an English-speaking friend by answering the following questions. • What traditional festival do people celebrate in your town, city or community? • When, how and why do they celebrate it? • Are there special foods for the celebration?