This is the second in a series of blog posts exploring ideas around Thanksgiving, Grief and Gratitude.

Many in the US will celebrate Thanksgiving tomorrow. But tomorrow is also the National Day of Mourning for American Indians.

Tomorrow, many of them will mourn the genocide of their people and theft of the land that they lived on and sustainably, honorably stewarded for more than 12,000 years before white European settlers arrived.

Just as American Public schools have not taught the truth of slavery in the US, the story of “Thanksgiving” has also been a glossed over, romanticized political ploy.

Some real truths about “Thanksgiving:”

American Indians did not happily hand over their land and teach the settlers how to farm and gain resources from the land “just because.” The Wampanoag Chief aligned with the pilgrims because he needed allies. Many of the Wampanoag had been lost to an epidemic disease and he didn’t want neighboring tribes to decimate them completely.
The arrival of the pilgrims to Plymouth Plantation wasn’t actually that notable. Europeans had been coming and going for years, and some American Indians had even already traveled to Europe and returned (some as slaves), and some spoke fluent English. In fact, Squanto, who helped to establish peace between the Pilgrims and Wampanoag, had been to Europe and returned. He helped the Pilgrims to farm the land.
“Thanksgiving” wasn’t actually really considered a holiday until the mid-1700s when it was used as a political ploy for New England to establish relevance and superiority over other colonies (by claiming to be “the first”). It was established as a national holiday in 1863.
The first “Thanksgiving” feast held a year after the settlers arrived (and many had died within that year) supposedly was for 140 people and 90 of them were Wampanoag and 50 were settlers (apparently only 4 were women) – this paints a very different scene than what is portrayed in textbooks and museums.
The years following the first Thanksgiving were fraught with violence between American Indians and White European Settlers. For 50 years, the alliance between the Wampanoag and settlers was tested and eventually led to the Great Narragansett War which devastated the Wampanoag and forever shifted the balance of power between American Indians and white settlers.
Consider… What else were you taught of the history of the colonies? They arrived, had thanksgiving, and then what comes next…? Anything? Well, there was violence and genocide. American Indians fought for their land and colonists fought back. A startling statistic: since 1492, it is estimated that 13 million American Indians have been killed in what is called the Indigenous Holocaust. 13 million...
Thanksgiving celebrations were not invented in 1621 with the “First Thanksgiving.” They had been celebrated for millenia, often as spiritual and religious festivals paying tribute to the gods for the bounty of the harvest. This was seen in Egyptian, Greek and Roman religious culture, as well as the Jewish festival of Sukkot and American Indian feasts following the fall harvest, which is what we owe our tradition to.

A note about Land Acknowledgments

Months ago, I saw a post from a Canadian teacher regarding Land Acknowledgments and it has stuck with me so I wanted to share it with you:

Land acknowledgements obviously don’t solve the problem or lead to true reconciliation and land restitution. I don’t have an answer or solution, but from what I’ve learned, we first need to be informed of the true history, and acknowledge the genocide and land theft as well as people’s experiences, trauma and marginalization. Here are a few good articles about the Truth of Thanksgiving:

Also, if you’re interested in learning more about the history and experiences of the Indigenous Nations that are the rightful stewards of the land you live on (or any land), you can find the exact Nations/Tribes on this awesome resource map, and then do your own research.

There are ways to Intentionally Give Back.

This week can be a time of Giving Thanks, but it can also be a time of Giving Back in small ways. Much the same as a land acknowledgment, this doesn’t solve the problem, but it does help. This article has an extensive list of charities that support American Indians, as well as American Indian-owned businesses for you to shop with should you prefer to shop rather than donate.

I recommend donating or shopping if you are able anytime, but perhaps particularly on Thanksgiving (The National Day of Mourning), Native American Heritage Day which also happens to be American Black Friday (Friday), or Giving Tuesday (next Tuesday). If possible, please spend and donate wisely this season - focusing on connection, reconnection and repair.

These are challenging truths to look at, but it is essential we hold the sorrow, the tragedy and the grief, in addition to holding the gratitude. That post is coming tomorrow so that we can hold both together.

Thank you for being you, and for being willing to look at the hard stuff in addition to the good stuff.

Rev. Dev
The Connected Way™

Grief… Tomorrow is the National Day of Mourning

Giving Thanks… Connecting with Gratitude

Grief & Gratitude: Thanksgiving… It’s Complicated