Oh, the season of Thanksgiving is upon us. Already, supermarketsabound with cute little Indian figurines and smiling pilgrims withtall hats and shiny square buckles. Children in elementary schoolsare handed coloring pages filled with the glorious scene of thePilgrims and the Native Americans, serenely laying down theirdifferences and joining one another for a plentiful meal of harmonyand companionship.
What a load of turkey dung.
The real "First Thanksgiving" dates back to the early 1620s,when the first colonists invited some members of the Wampanoagtribe to join them for a meal. However, this was only after Squantomade the colonists' first meal possible by teaching them how togrow crops, fish and hunt effectively.
Squanto, by the way, had just spent the last few years enslavedby Europeans and had no reason to help the colonists, except forthe simple fact that he was Native American and believed it onlynatural to give to those who had nothing (a foreign concept to thenew settlers). But back to Turkey Day...
The pilgrims were seeking Indian favor with this wonderfullittle meal to persuade them to sign a treaty that would allowEuropeans to gain rights to land in Plymouth. Though the concept of"owning" land was pretty abstract to the Native Americans, theyappeased their new "friends" and granted them thousands of acres ofland.
Years later in the 1630s, the Massachusetts Bay Colony declaredanother day of Thanksgiving. This time, it was to celebrate asuccessful massacre of the Pequot Indian tribe in what is nowConnecticut.
Though the colonists were guilty of butchering and burning alivehundreds of member of the Pequot tribe, it was okay because thePequots were only heathen savages who were doomed to Hell anyway.And besides, who can dispute the Bible? Psalm 2:8 says, "Ask of me,and I will make the nations your inheritance, the ends of the earthyour possession."
This was the Puritans theme song when it came to justifying themurder of Native Americans and the theft of their land. I mean, Idon't know about you, but to me, that quote clearly states that Godwanted the Indian savages to be killed and their culturesuppressed.
And if you believed that, put your hand over your mouth, scream"Woo Woo," and you can speak Indian.
What followed these celebrations for Native Americans? Betrayalfrom the "friends" they'd helped to survive, deadly disease,spiritual persecution, assimilation of cultural beliefs and loss oftheir land. There's no doubt about it -- Native Americans haveabout as much reason to celebrate the historical "FirstThanksgiving" as they do Columbus Day. Each year on ThanksgivingDay, many Native Americans gather at Plymouth Rock for the NationalDay of Mourning, in hopes of forcing the public to see howdevastating this celebrated national holiday was for theirpeople.
So should we throw out Thanksgiving all together? Of coursenot.
Our country has never had a more appropriate time to reflect onthe spirit of giving, the beauty of life and thankfulness. We onlymust not pretend that what we're celebrating has anything to dowith an event that was incredibly destructive to Native Americanpeople everywhere. Let our celebration of Thanksgiving focus on newbeginnings, hope, and peace.
Write to Carla at caalderman@bsu.edu
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