Community Conversation - Truthsgiving
The following is part of DougCo Collective’s “Community Conversations” and was written by a Douglas County community member (parent, student, teacher/staff or community member). The intent of “Community Conversations” is to give members of the Douglas County community an opportunity to contribute to the larger DCSD conversation with their lived experiences and perspectives.
Estimated Read Time: 4 minutes
It is important that we, as a society, practice unlearning and re-learning. Being willing to be curious and learn something new is necessary for avoiding the perpetuation of harm and false narratives.
Many of us know and learned a whitewashed history of Thanksgiving. There is a more complete picture of what really happened hundreds of years ago, so we must acknowledge that a different history exists in order to stop supporting a false narrative that ultimately removes, excludes and erases Native Americans’ lived experiences. This requires humility and a willingness to learn and let go of an inaccurate history.
The “first Thanksgiving” was in 1621. The Wampanoag tribe and the pilgrims were present. The pilgrims showed up on this land, which was already inhabited by the Native Americans. They proceeded to steal from the Wampanoag, taking their winter provisions. Deadly conflicts occurred after the first harvest. Native Peoples’ land was taken; they were imprisoned, enslaved and executed. European colonizers brought disease and wiped out populations of people. Just imagine this experience from the perspective of the Wampanoag: you are living your life on the only land you have ever known and white people show up, steal your food, take your land and then kill many of the people of your community and then, in the future, all of this is reframed as a pleasant interaction. Sit with this, not as a personal attack, but as information.
Remember the teachings we received from our own school years: 1492 Columbus sailed the ocean blue; pilgrims and “Indians” getting along at a feast. This is the history colonizers supported. The actual history involved so much horror and inhumanity and deadly conflict between the colonizers and the Native people. Plymouth Rock is within the original homelands of the Patuxet, a Band of the Wampanoag Tribal Confederation, which was almost completely wiped out by leptospirosis (also known as weil’s disease) in the early 1600s. The disease was brought over by rats and humans from Europe. This is what we need to re-learn with humility.
What we learned in school is not a reflection of us as humans. It’s what educators knew because that is what they were taught. What we do with new information either makes us complicit if no action or acknowledgment exists. Or it makes us advocates against the exclusion that Indigenous People have experienced for hundreds of years.
Inaccurate history is erasure. We can affirm Native culture and lived experiences by elevating Native voices, people and issues. When we acknowledge the true history, we affirm Native Peoples’ experiences and take steps to end the systemic harm they have faced and continue to face.
Some people skip Thanksgiving altogether, but for those who don’t, please participate with intention: “As you celebrate Thanksgiving by feasting with family, watching the parade, and going back for seconds (…or thirds), there are also some simple, impactful things you can do to help combat Native erasure this holiday”:
Celebrate Indigenous cuisine by adding a recipe from an Indigenous chef to your spread, with a focus on local, sustainable ingredients.
Speak about Native peoples in a respectful way: Look over this Do and Don’t guide for allies, and use it to start conversations with your friends.
Learn and teach the true history of Native people. You can help shape your education. Present these lesson plans to a teacher (Native People Today, Impact of Native Americans, and The Future is Indigenous Coloring Book) and ask them to engage in discussions about Native Americans, their history, and their impact.
Acknowledge whose land you’re on at this very moment. You can go to Native-Land.ca | Our home on native land or Enter your ZIP code to find out whose traditional territories you’re residing on. Take a minute to learn more about them and honor their enduring relationship to the land.
Support Native-lead initiatives. Watch and share this mini-documentary about the Fort Belknap Indian Community’s fight against the Keystone Pipeline.
Watch the Klepper docuseries episode, Invisible Nation. Hear more about the impact of invisibility on Native peoples, and use this viewers guide from IllumiNative to further your understanding.
Source: TRUTHSGIVING: THE TRUE HISTORY OF THANKSGIVING (voiceourpower.com)
Books: We Are Still Here!: Native American Truths Everyone Should Know by Traci Sorell and We Are Grateful: Otsaliheliga by Traci Sorell