In September 1620, a small ship called
Mayflower left Plymouth,
England, carrying 102 passengers—an assortment of religious separatists
and
other lured by the promise of the New World. After a treacherous and uncomfortable crossing that
lasted 66 days, they dropped anchor near the tip of Cape Cod. One
month later, the Mayflower crossed Massachusetts Bay, where the Pilgrims began the work of establishing a village they named as
Plymouth.
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| Thanksgiving at Plymouth in 1621 |
In 1621, the Pilgrims and Wampanoag Indians shared an autumn harvest feast in Plymouth that is today acknowledged as the first Thanksgiving celebrations in the colonies. The Pilgrims’ first corn harvest proved successful and Governor William Bradford
organized a celebratory feast and invited a group of Native American allies. However it wasn’t until 1863, during the Civil War, that President
Abraham Lincoln proclaimed a national Thanksgiving Day to be held each
November.
Thanksgiving Meal
In many American households, the Thanksgiving celebration has lost much
of its original religious significance; instead, it now centers on
cooking and sharing a bountiful meal with family and friends. Cooking and sharing Turkey, a native bird in Americas has become synonymous with the holiday. Volunteering is a common Thanksgiving Day activity, and communities
often hold food drives and host free dinners for the less fortunate.
Native American Version
Some Native Americans and others take issue with how the Thanksgiving
story is presented to the American public, and especially to
schoolchildren. In their view, the traditional narrative paints a
deceptively sunny portrait of relations between the Pilgrims and the
Wampanoag people, masking the long and bloody history of conflict
between Native Americans and European settlers that resulted in the
deaths of millions. Since 1970, protesters have gathered on the day
designated as Thanksgiving at the top of Cole’s Hill, which overlooks
Plymouth Rock, to commemorate a “National Day of Mourning.” Similar
events are held in other parts of the country.
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| Massacre at Wounded Knee - Lakota Tribes |
Sikh Tradition of Langar
Similar to the Thanksgiving concept,
Langar (
Punjabi:
ਲੰਗਰ) (kitchen) is the term used in Sikhism for the community kitchen in a Gurdwara
where a free meal is served to all the visitors, without distinction of
religion, caste, gender, economic status or ethnicity. Every Gurdwara has a
langar where all people are welcome to a free meal regardless of their sex, color or religion. There are no rituals observed in the
langar and everyone eats together. All the food is vegetarian so that no religious group is offended.
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| Sikh Volunteers Prepare Langar at Gurdwara, Fremont, CA |
Guru Nanak Dev, the founding Guru of Sikhism established the
Langar
because he rejected the Hindu caste system where people of different
castes do not eat together. Guru Nanak wanted to stress the idea
that everyone is equal. Everyone shares the tasks of preparation,
cooking, serving and cleaning. This shows
sewa - selfless service to the others in the
sangat (community), the gurdwara, and the world outside.
Serving the Humanity
The Sikhs take the tradition of Langar to serve the humanity in general across the globe. Sikh volunteers provide free meals to homeless during Thanksgiving and other occasions on a regular basis.
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| Sikh Volunteers distributing Langar to Homeless in Sacramento, CA |
Sikh volunteer organizations have risked their lives to serve food to the starving people of India during natural calamities, such as floods, eathquakes, and hurricanes. Most recently, the Sikhs took a lot of critisism from the right-wing Indian organizations when they provided water and food to the Rohingyas escaping genocide in Myanmar.
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| Sikhs serving Rohingya Refuggees from Myanmar |
Sikh organizations like Khalsa Aid led by Ravinder Singh Khalsa have risked their lives to provide uninterrupted supplies of food and other essentials to the minority Yezidy community of war-torn Syria.
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| Sikhs distributing food to Syrian Refugees |
Khalsa Aid
Ravinder Singh began his journey as a Humanitarian
Aid worker in 1999, and started a nonprofit relief aid organization
named
Khalsa Aid which works toward providing assistance to victims of
wars, flooding and natural disasters worldwide. Khalsa Aid has launched
over 25 International Emergency Relief Missions over the last 14 years
and raises the awareness of Sikhs beliefs and values worldwide.
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| Yezidy Refugee with Khalsa Aid |
Khalsa Aid started their first mission in
Albania/Kosovo border where they provided ssistance to displaced
victims of civil war & genocide. In his second mission to Turkey
(1999) when devastating earthquake struck Northwestern Turkey, they provided a thousand pairs of garments and water purifier to the affected
people. Since then humanitarian aid has been provided to suffering
communities in Gujarat (2001 earthquake), Rwanda
(2002 volcanic Eruption), Yezidy (2015 civil war in Syria), Puerto Rico (2017 Hurricane), Rohingyas (2017 Myanmar Civil war) and many more.
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| Ravinder Singh with Yezidy Children |
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