Not All Americans Celebrate Thanksgiving
In elementary school, children place their hand on a piece of paper and trace around it. This provides a template for drawing a turkey to bring home and hang on the fridge for Thanksgiving. The children also hear the story about the Pilgrims and Indians sitting down together and eating turkey to celebrate their friendship.
And that’s just what it is - a story. The relationship between the Wampanoag people and the English was an alliance of sorts, but one much more complicated than we’ve been led to believe. If you’re an educator or parent of school-age children, here’s a resource for an alternative Thanksgiving lesson:
If you wish to learn the true history of Thanksgiving, here’s a resource:
https://www.dosomething.org/us/articles/truthsgiving-the-true-history-of-thanksgiving
We are slowly learning the true relationship between the various tribes of first people and those who claim to have discovered America. This is not to say that we should abandon the idea of Thanksgiving. But we need to reframe it. Here are some simple things you can do to honor Native Americans this holiday:
Celebrate indigenous cuisine. Find a recipe and serve Three Sisters Stew, a soup made from beans, corn and winter squash, known collectively as the “three sisters.” This combo is traditional in Native American gardening because they offer collective benefits when planted in combination.
Acknowledge whose land you’re on. Enter your zip code to discover whose traditional territories you’re residing on. Learn more about them and honor their enduring relationship to the land.
Take the time to educate yourself. In 1970, descendants of the original invaders of the land of the Wampanoag planned an anniversary celebration. They invited a Native American, Frank James, to speak, hoping he would offer appreciative comments. That was not his plan. And so, Frank James did not speak at the event. If he had been allowed to offer truth, this is what he would have said: