Thankstaking (or Thanksgiving, if you prefer)

Takesgiving (or Thankstaking)



I am writing this not to bash thanksgiving, but rather out of anxious anticipation of how my rather conservative office will be decorated next week. I spent some time today walking the halls thinking of how I would best phrase my response when I see cartoon images of Indians and pilgrims on the walls. It’s only a matter of time. In fact, one coworker has already broken out the Pilgrim hat. Also, this is available at http://whatwouldjohncollierdo.blogspot.com/.



First thing is first – I don’t hate Thanksgiving, or the people who celebrate it.



Let me reiterate - I am not against Thanksgiving. Our family celebrates Thanksgiving every year. For us, it is a time of togetherness and a chance to visit and spend time with each other. It’s not like I’m NOT going to see loved ones when I get the chance, right? In fact, I am going to see some very dear friends this thanksgiving because that's what I always do.



No, my problem with Thanksgiving is how people learn about it and present it. You can ask any student in America’s school system about the history of thanksgiving and you’ll probably get similar answers – Indians and Pilgrims had a feast.



First thing – Indians??? All Indians? Or just some Indians? As a follow up to the mascot rant, this rather juvenile portrayal of Indians denies “Indians” any individual identity. How many of you can name the specific tribe that was part of the first “thanksgiving feast”? In teach about, or portraying thanksgiving, there's never any mention of individual tribal identity, which erases us as a part of the story. Just saying "indians" isn't good enough to justify anything.



Second thing – this holiday seems to skip parts that are too ‘harsh’ or inconvenient for people to remember. What happened after thanksgiving? Unfortunately, this story did not have a happily ever after. For some people, thanksgiving may have been the end of Indians in school. Nobody teaches the subsequent Native histories (yes, we all had separate histories) about federal termination, relocation, and assimilation policies. These are experiences that have altered (and in some cases decimated) entire nations. Now we happen to be a halfway remembered, halfway honored race. Somehow we all got erased…until thanksgiving. And then we were erased again and only portrayed as the generic Indian.



Third thing – it just seems to be a way to promote youth partaking in disrespectful imagery of Native Americans. I believe that education and dialogue is the best way to facilitate social change. What bothers me is that we are teaching children a sugarcoated version of Thanksgiving, and having them dress up as generic, stereotypical Indians, and then they reenact it. How can I expect adults to engage in open dialogue when we don’t even teach that to our children?



Fourth thing – I don’t hate thanksgiving. I’m not going to ask people to stop celebrating thanksgiving. I am not saying that people shouldn’t spend time with their families and loved ones. No, I am just asking people to have an open dialogue of how we represent the holiday, how we teach it to our children, and that we all remember ALL of native history and not just the good points. I mean, think about it – it’s called thanksGIVING. But who GAVE? And WHAT?



At home last night I mentioned to my boyfriend, “what if we didn’t have the first thanksgiving?” Well, first off, the colonies would have starved (and the irony is that my boyfriend can trace his lineage back to the Mayflower, needless to say, we’ve had some interesting dialogue). Secondly, the world would be vastly different. People don’t remember that the ships went both ways. We gave potatoes to the Irish. We gave tomatoes to the Italians. We gave chocolate to the French. I don’t regret it.



Often I get responses such as “Well, if Columbus never came we would never have America. You must hate America.” Or, “Well Thanksgiving is a major holiday for families and is significant in American history. You must hate families and America.” I don’t hate America. (Sidenote: More than half of my family serves in the Armed Forces. How can I hate America? Actually, Native American troops played key roles in World War I. They fought when they weren’t even considered citizens yet.) Also, that response shows me that you are trying to justify history. I didn’t ask for justification. I’m asking for understanding and dialogue. Neither of us can change history, but we can definitely change how we teach and talk about it.



Please, let me know if you have any questions, comments, or concerns. I’m more than happy to discuss what I write, and more than happy to rewrite what I’ve written to fit a learning environment or for you to share. This will also be available at http://whatwouldjohncollierdo.blogspot.com/. Thanks!



P.S. For those that do share on your Facebook walls, thank you! I feel very honored. However, if you could just let me know if you receive any feedback it would be much appreciated. Thanks!