As I sit in my kitchen after baking 14 (literally) pies for Thanksgiving, I begin to wonder what other Native families are doing in preparation for the holiday. So obviously I Googled it, and well I was surprised to find out there are more families out there that celebrate the holiday than I expected. Many though, don’t actually celebrate the holiday for “what it is” but rather for the sake of being with your family and friends, such as my family.
My mother says “we eat, we laugh, and we are thankful for what Shonkwaia’tishon has given us. That’s our Thanksgiving.” It’s hard to argue with that. I’ve always seen it that way, at least once I started to understand that the holiday was a hoax made up by European settlers. WHAT?! You didn’t know?! Well let me tell you something interesting; much of what we learned in school isn’t exactly the whole truth. Growing up, giving thanks meant that you were acknowledging and thanking everything around you for being there to help you survive. It starts in the mornings and ends in the evenings, or before a meeting or ceremony. In the Iroquois culture, it’s about acknowledging everything from Mother Earth to the Stars, and especially Shonkwaia’tison, the Creator. We call this the Ohenton Kariwatekwen, which means “the words before all else” and what this does is it brings our minds into one where we can all think on the same page, speak the same language (not literally) and be at peace with each other. The importance? Well, it’s just an example of how we give thanks every day, the Native American way.
This simple holiday, put in place by Abraham Lincoln as a way to create a stronger sense of nationalism and patriotism, isn’t based off of something that actually happened. WOW. Crazy, right? If the histories of mass murders, slaughters, ravaging, and abuse weren’t clue enough to see that the Europeans didn’t exactly get along well enough with the Natives to sit down and share a turkey, then well I really don’t know what to tell you. This video, which I found while reading some articles on Indian Country News Media Today gives a good idea of the history left out of our textbooks about the pilgrims and Indians, and what we see today as “Thanksgiving.”
There are instances though, that suggest there was in fact an actual shared meal between the Indians and the pilgrims, in this article there is evidence found within the first published newspaper in America called Publick Occurrences, which documented this event. But before this one instance of thankfulness occurred, Native Americans across the continent were already celebrating what they had all the time, if anything on a daily basis. The Iroquois have ceremonies such as Harvest, Green Corn, Mid-Winter, and others that show our gratitude for the things that we have; these ceremonies are done regularly and include dancing and singing, food, and prayers. These ceremonies are some of the few rights that we retained (after fighting to keep) after contact, and I am thankful that we are able to continue our traditions today.
Thanksgiving is an ironic holiday some might say, much of which can be attributed to the brutal history of Native peoples and the European settlers. What truly bothers me about the holiday though is when middle-schools and younger children perform “The First Thanksgiving.” O.M.G. I could just die sometimes thinking of the war paint, the universal headdress that signifies all Native American people, the cheap tan colored felt skirts, and Tee-Pees. Well, I found some humor in this video but it still doesn’t cure the fact that these awful plays still occur today.
This is a video from the blog of Simon Moya-Smith, who blogs on iamnotamascot.blogspot.com, and I couldnt agree more with what he's saying. It's true, I also am bombarded with these questions without fail every year from those interested in knowing exactly "what Indians do on Thanksgiving"?
What is the big deal though? For one it’s a complete lie, and secondly it sugar coats the disaster history of my people and the other 500 tribes that suffered as well. There is a series of films out there called 500 Nations, I would suggest everyone to look for them and take a few hours to sit and watch them. Not only will it make you realize how much information you missed out on in high school and lower, but it will make you wonder (at least I hope it does) why you didn’t learn this stuff. You might even find that you kinda-sorta-maybe feel a little bad about the holiday. But that’s not what my objective is here; my objective is to get you to think about the day you are celebrating, and what it truly means. There are other holidays that can very well be put in the same category of sugar-coated holidays, like Columbus day. Here’s an interesting video that I thought should be news casted by now (hmm, censoring by all major news companies?).
Being thankful should happen every day, not just on November 24th once a year because the calendar says so. Just like you should shower your mother with love every day of the year, not just on Mother’s Day, same with your father and Father’s Day. I’m not trying to say that Thanksgiving is completely effed up, but I am trying to say that there is something more behind this day that needs to be examined. So watch the videos, check out some of the articles, maybe even watch the film 500 Nations, and remember to be thankful for everything you have everyday.
In the words of Red Cloud, "They made us many promises, more than I can remember. But they kept only one: They promised to take our land, and they did."
Think about the holiday you are celebrating, and think about the history behind it. Niawen.