I do not fault you for not knowing the real history of Thanksgiving. The US education system has done a number on the lies it tells to keep everyone satisfied in their feel-good history. I firmly believe most citizens are good people who are not actively trying to be silent and participate in Native American erasure.
But to know real History and the very real events that brought us to where we are today is a good thing. Allowing ourselves to sit in the discomfort of our own ancestors misgivings and our own ancestors pain can leave us in a better place.
So what do you do with the knowledge that Thanksgiving was initially a day to celebrate the death of at least 700 people of the Peqout tribe. The slaughtering of men, woman & children
How do you reconcile it in your own home?
How do you reconcile it in your heart?
Knowing that this tribe, the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe still exists today, still struggles for its sovereignty, the descendants of this massacre are still in mourning on this day.
I want to invite you into your own heart, your own mind, and invite you do some inquiry on how you want to go about this.
Here is a round up of things to consider and do.
Smash the notion that pilgrims & Indians feasted together.
False ideals of friendship will not bring us closer to real alliance and togetherness. Our ancestors were not friends, but that doesn't mean we can not be now, but it does mean we can not continue to participate in the lie that they were friends.
To acknowledge that this is a day of mourning for a lot of Indigenous families.
Learn about whose land you are on, where they are now, how they were removed. Chances are they are still fighting for something today that was not honored in their treaties. Get involved in their causes, you are on their ancestors bones (yes, your ancestors bones as well). While you're learning about the land, start protecting it.
Don't participate in harmful anti-native rhetoric.
The food you eat on Thanksgivings, the turkey, squash, beans, corn, cranberries are all traditional Native North American foods. The three sisters (corn, beans & squash) are sacred to many Native tribes as for thousands of years this was a staple in their diet and would take them through the winter as beans and squash store well. Respect the food, respect where it came from, and treat it with reverence of importance. Start getting involved with your own food chain, where it comes from, who handles it, who benefits, or does not benefit. Also recognize that 1 in 4 native families are food insecure, 60 reservations within the US are "food deserts" and need better access to food.
Be grateful, yes be very grateful if you are able to be safe and fed, be grateful. Hold your gratitude in a deep respect for all of the death, destruction, love & resilience that has brought your own family to where it is.
Contribute to the Rising Hearts wishlist, which benefits Native families who have lost love ones to the Missing & Murdered Indigenous men and women epidemic that is happening here in the US.
Here are some good articles on the subject also.
9 ways to Decolonize Thanksgiving
Finding a better way to Celebrate Thanksgiving
How Natives do or don't Celebrate
Tell me what do you think you will do now?
