Thanksgiving is a myth. It's as simple as that. The whole “friendly pilgrim and
Indian feast” never really happened. This American origin mythology is harmful –
not just to Native peoples, but all people who learn false narratives. The true
history is not a happy one. It is one of violent colonization and celebrations
of massacres.
Many Native peoples look at the history of the so called “ first Thanksgiving” holiday as
the beginning of the end. The beginning of a wave of violent colonization from
the east coast, land theft, genocide, plagues, death, destruction, etc. It is
not a happy time or a reason to celebrate for many of us. Native perspectives
on the holiday are often negative.
Instead of trying to maintain a positive only approach to “Thanksgiving,”
consider a shift in your focus and how you approach this topic.
Consider taking the focus completely off of “Thanksgiving”
all together:
Learn about the harvest traditions of different Native
nations.
Harvest festivals, feasts, and ceremonies have been celebrated around the world for thousands of years. It wasn’t a new idea in 1621 and it wasn’t invented by the colonizers. Many Native nations celebrate harvest festivals and ceremonies still today. The best way to learn about these is from the specific Native nations themselves. Some examples of these festivals and ceremonies include: the Green Corn Ceremony/Green Corn Dance (southeastern nations), Cranberry Day (Wampanoag), Acorn Festival (Miwok/Pomo), Go-jii-ya (eastern Apache), and the Hopi Festival. The Pueblo nations have feast days for different purposes, many of the fall ones are harvest celebrations.
There is a series of children's books called We Are Still Here: Native Americans Today. Some of them are about harvesting, traditional foods, and why they're important to their cultures (marked with an asterisk*) –Children of Clay: A Family of Pueblo Potters
Clambake: A Wampanoag Tradition*
Ininatig's Gift of Sugar: Traditional Native Sugar-making*
Kinaaldá: A Navajo Girl Grows Up (About a Navajo girl's coming- of-age ceremony.)
The Sacred Harvest: Ojibway Wild Rice Gathering*
Shannon: An Ojibway Dancer
Songs from the Loom: A Navajo Girl Learns to Weave.
Drumbeat Heartbeat: A Celebration of Powwow
A Story To Tell: Traditions of a Tlingit Community
Four Seasons of Corn: A Winnebago Tradition*
Learning about traditional foodways is another great topic to explore.
For more information about movements to restore traditional food ways and crops:
http://www.indigenousfoodsystems.org/
https://nativefoodalliance.org/
https://fronterasdesk.org/content/1410851/apache-chef-nephi-craig-uses-food-medicine-his-people
The Sioux Chef – Revitalizing Native American Cuisine / Re-Identifying North American Cuisine (sioux-chef.com)
and check out the documentary Gather: https://gather.film/
Lesson plans:
Activity15.6-8.NIEA-Illuminative_Sioux-Chef-Sean-Sherman-A-Rebirth-of-Native-American-Cuisine.Final_.pdf (illuminatives.org)
Discuss cultural ideas of giving thanks daily and all year
long:
Giving thanks daily is a cultural concepts in many Native cultures throughout the Americas. It is not reserved for a particular holiday or time of year.
Books:
Giving Thanks – a Native American Good Morning Message Teacher's Guide - Giving Thanks | Lee & Low Books (leeandlow.com)
We Are Grateful: Otsaliheliga by Traci Sorell
In this video, youth from the Mohawk nation in New York say their thanks in the Mohawk language.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y36Nt3i3z0E(additional information: http://www.project562.com/blog/a-real-thanksgiving-address-the-words-that-come-before-all-else/
Lesson plan: Activity-1-3-5_-NIEA-Illuminative.3-5.Giving-Thanks-Haudenosaunee-Message.Final_.pdf (illuminatives.org)
When you do want to learn about the holiday itself be sure to tell the truth about the harmful history of colonization and that the “first Thanksgiving” story is a myth:
Wayback Machine (archive.org) (older resource by the Oyate organization that no longer exists, but fortunately this was captured by the wayback machine)
Thanksgiving: A Native Perspective - this is a teacher resource book Thanksgiving: A Native Perspective by Doris Seale, Beverly Slapin, and Carolyn Silverman / Birchbark Books & Native Arts
Rethinking Columbus: The Next 500 Years – this is a teacher resource book that includes a section on Thanksgiving (as well as treaties, Columbus, and other important topics.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K7jLeBWMA0UThe Myth of Thanksgiving: Native American Perspectives on The Pilgrims | Past Forward - YouTube
Books:
A new book just came out by Linda Coombs, a Wampanoag historian, called Colonization and the Wampanoag: Colonization and the Wampanoag Story by Linda Coombs: 9780593480434 | PenguinRandomHouse.com: Books
If You Lived During the Plymouth Thanksgiving by Chris Newell is a newer, Native authored book that helps to dispel mythologies around this history as well.
History Smashers: The Mayflower – this one is not Native authored, but it does a good job at breaking down the myths and correcting false narratives. The images do have some stereotypes regarding Native peoples, so be aware of that and be sure to examine it and discuss it with children reading this book.
Lesson plans:
https://americanindian.si.edu/nk360/resources/American-Indian-Perspectives-on-Thanksgiving
NMAI Thanksgiving - Home (si.edu)
It is also important to learn about the National Day of Mourning that takes place on “thanksgiving” every year as well as other Native perspectives on the holiday:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OW0s8ToCyU8This is the website for the organizers of the National Day of Mourning:
United American Indians of New England - UAINE
There’s nothing wrong with having a big meal together with your family to celebrate being together and being thankful. People do this at harvest celebrations. Many Native families do this with or without cultural harvest festivals/ceremonies.
If you want to move away from the “thanksgiving” myth, but
still love to have a big meal with extended family consider doing it on a
different day. There’s no reason you can’t make a turkey and all the typical
sides literally any other day of the year. There are other times of year where
kids are out of school and adults have time off work. Find something that works
for your family and create new traditions.
Personally, I feel like Thanksgiving as a holiday, even when
separated from the myth, is still celebrating colonization. It is still a painful
reminder to me of what happened, and still is happening, as a result of
invasion, land theft, and genocide. My family does not celebrate "thanksgiving." But I understand that the day off work and
school makes it an easy time to have a family meal like this for many people.
It is important to be mindful and to separate your family meal from a harmful
myth.
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