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Thanksgiving is fun and all right? You get to hang with your family whom you probably never see, sit down and feast, watch football, get drunk, take fall photo shoots or whatever, but do you know the history of thanksgiving? Do you know why we feast on this specific day?
Here’s a hint: it’s not a celebration of peace and prosperity between the native Americans and the pilgrims like old school history books would have you believe.
Thanksgiving actually represents the dark shadow of genocide and the resilience of the native people.
An excerpt from USA Today states, “ Every tribe and every individual may have a different way of spending Thanksgiving. Some will gather with their families and share a meal, (that’s us white Americans) exchanging prayers and stories from the rich oral history of Native Americans. Others will fast for the entire day.(native Americans or how they like to be addressed, the indigenous)”
Don’t get me wrong, it’s totally okay to celebrate it considering it’s meaning is totally different today than it was back then. But just know that thanksgiving began because every time colonies would take over more native land and commit more genocide, they would celebrate by feasting. And in 1621 Washington decided to dumb it down to one specific day a year where we celebrated all our “victories”. Put in quotes because killing should never be a victory.
So I have a challenge for you this year. Before the meal, sit down an do a little research on the topic. Learn what tribes this directly effected. Learn how many people from this tribe were killed. Learn what land we stole from them. And then every year on thanksgiving, make it a point to sit down and teach a proper history lesson on this topic. Why we celebrate it today and why it’s not what it used to be. Talking about it is the only way we can change our ways. Change ourselves from being less racist, this process is called decolonizing.
If you would like to learn more about decolonizing and becoming an indigenous ally, I suggest doing a little research on the land you live on. Look up what tribe originally inhabited your land. When they were pushed further west, what tribe took over, and when pilgrims colonized that land. Further decolonizing can include supporting indigenous owned businesses. You can find tons of them on TikTok. Researching Native American traditions. Attending certain indigenous lead festivals, donating to the stop line 3 cause. Donating to the mmiwac (missing and murdered indigenous women and children) search. Researching what parts the church took in the mmiw cause. And last but not least, if you have the pto saved up, consider getting out on the front lines helping the stop line 3 cause! Www.stopline3.org
So get out there and learn/teach a thing or two and have a wonderful thanksgiving everyone! 🤍🍄🍁🍂
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