Many Native women promote the true story of Thanksgiving:
Ramona Peters: The Real Story of the First Thanksgiving:
After Squanto’s aid with corn and other planting, the pilgrims had a successful harvest and celebrated with a day of giving thanks. They were shooting guns and canons in celebration, which alerted [the Wampanoag]. They didn’t know why the pilgrims were shooting, so Massasoit gathered up some 90 warriors and showed up at Plymouth prepared to engage, if needed. “They didn’t know. It was a fact-finding mission.” Upon arrival, a translator explained they were celebrating the harvest, so the Wampanoag decided to stay to ensure this was true. By then the Wampanoag had seen other landings — Captain John Smith, even the Vikings — so they camped nearby for a few days. During those few days, their men went out to hunt and gather food—deer, ducks, geese, and fish. There were 90 men camped there, and at the time “only 23 survivors of that boat, the Mayflower, so you can imagine the fear.”
Yatibaey Evans: Let's all teach the truth about Native history:
Over the years, the real Thanksgiving story that included thievery and death of a people was recreated to tell only a happy story. A happy story makes us feel good. Is telling a lie perpetuating happiness or rather covering a frightful truth in hopes of creating assimilated citizens? Stopping to give grace or be thankful is not bad, but maybe by telling a fuller story we can open opportunities for healing dialogues.
Sikowis, aka Christine Nobiss: Thanksgiving Promotes Whitewashed History, So I Organized Truthsgiving Instead:
It’s past time to honor the Indigenous resistance, tell our story as it really happened, and undo romanticized notions of the holiday that have long suppressed our perspective. As an Indigenous decolonizer, I call this time of year the Season of Resistance. With Thanksgiving fast approaching, I ask you to please take the time to educate your peers about Thanksgiving's real history; to support Native people as they resist the narrative of the holiday; and to organize or host alternatives to this holiday.
Matika Wilbur: Thankstaking: Lies Your Teacher Taught You: The Truth About Thanksgiving
This is not a hard conversation to have, and most people do not want to be lied to - which is what rehashing the myth does. Ultimately, it stems from a limited perspective of history. The Thanksgiving myth that many Americans have been taught is that, upon arrival, the pilgrims were met with happy Indians who taught them how to tend the land and they had a great feast to celebrate. This whole concept was taken from one paragraph of one settler’s journal. Most of what we know about Thanksgiving is invented and packaged in easy-to-digest bites. This convenient story allows for the avoidance of discomfort for people with settler ancestries.
Whatever versions of Thanksgiving and alternatives you celebrate, the holiday means fewer writers and readers and lurkers here at DKos this weekend, so we are asking for your help by adding articles about the War on Women in the comments! Thank you!
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