Aussie holidays do not include a "Thanksgiving" equivalent..Well not to my knowledge. I suppose 'ANZAC Day' might somewhat act in someway like that...but not really. There's also 'Australia Day' in which we recognise the birth of the Australian nation, and celebrate it. Though that may be more analogous to 'Independance Day'.
So...I guess we do not have such an equivalent. We don't really need to give thanks to anyone...I mean we started out as a prison colony..I can really imagine a bunch of prisoners thanking the builder of the prison...Yep.
But what is "Thanksgiving" about? How did it start? What does it signify?
It's about honoring all the forces of nature that have lead to a successful harvest and a bountiful year. It started during the first years of the white European invasion of North America. It was actually a symbol of unity at the time.
Now, it only seems to be an excuse for personal gluttony, not only where food is concerned, but also gift buying for the Christmas season.
No comment on what gift giving means during Christmas, for now.
It's also about feeling guilty for all the dead Indians, who taught the settlers to farm and provided them with food during their first years.
Nah, all that came later. The original Thanksgiving was a time of unity. You can not blemish the intention of Thanksgiving any worse than history has done.
I do feel a little guilty for what our government did to the Indians, (hundreds of different and unique nations, thrown into a barrel to be discarded) but most of the ones who perpetrated these travesties are dead. They are fucking dead and the Indians, who survived, have celebrated their deaths and danced for their own dead grandfathers memories while burning effigies of the ones who fucked them over and over and over, for years, upon years. They are mostly OK with it all. White man may feel guilt still, but the guilt is their own, our own, not theirs. The Indians I know are happy people, yet to be conquered in spirit by governance or even taxes.
No other citizens of this country can own vast acreages of land, totally tax-free. Yes, they may have lost their grandfathers' enormous tracts of free lands, controlled only by the spirits of the ones who still live there, but in this modern world, the Humans who play the game have won the game, by default. White man loses, by their own hands.