Canadian Thanksgiving takes place on the second Monday of each October. The first nationwide Thanksgiving was celebrated in 1859 at the request of Protestant clergy who wanted an occasion to give thanks for the season's blessings, but it did not become an official national holiday until 1957. The roots of Thanksgiving however date back much further than 1859. Indigenous peoples of Canada have had traditions of celebrating the fall harvest and giving thanks long before Europeans arrived. Today, it is celebrated mostly as a day for families to gather and share a meal together.