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Tuesday, November 23, 2010

The Thanksgiving Myth - MOST COMPLETE LIST ON THIS SITE

Thanksgiving 2018 Articles (some of the BEST on this website)
https://nativeamericanresources.blogspot.com/2018/11/thanksgiving-2018-some-of-best-articles.html



LESSON PLANS

Let's start with a sample lesson plan about Thanksgiving (and then move to missing history, multiple sources, resources, and perspectives) 

VIDEOS
Videos about the first "Thanksgiving"
We Shall Remain 
2015 Compilation:  http://nativeamericanresources.blogspot.com/2015/11/2015-thanksgiving-compilation.html

BOOKS
Books  with Thanksgiving theme
Lies My Teacher Told Me Quotes
Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz writes about history AND myths

HISTORY
The popularized History of Thanksgiving
Quick history timeline
Tisquantum's Story (also known as Squanto)
Frank James Speech which was supposed to be delivered on the first National Day of Mourning (Day of Remembrance)
Thanksgiving celebrates the death of 700 Pequots
Thanksgiving - Thanks for what?
Real Origins are with Sara Josepha Hale (writer of Mary Had a Little Lamb)

THANKSGIVING PRIMARY SOURCES - We only have TWO (2) and they aren't anything like the popularized story.
Original Source #1
Original Source #2
Wampanoag Perspective

MULTIPLE and MISSING PERSPECTIVES - I use many of these articles to present multiple viewpoints on November as Native American Heritage Month
Thanksgiving Perspectives
Quick Summary by John Two Hawks
James Loewen's Thanksgiving Story - A really good (but long) summary
Myths - by OYATE
Why We Shouldn't Celebrate Thanksgiving - Robert Jensen
The Meaning of Thanksgiving 2010 - Robert Jensen
Day of Mourning
Plimouth Plantation
Connection to Columbus & Genocide
2014 Plimoth Plantation story of "Squanto"
Q and A Summary (Excellent)
6 Myths

TODAY'S IMPACT
Racist Balloons & other racist, inaccurate, and belittling images
In the News:  http://nativeamericanresources.blogspot.com/2013/11/2013-thanksgiving-news.html
Do American Indians Celebrate Thanksgiving? http://indiancountrytodaymedianetwork.com/2012/11/20/do-american-indians-celebrate-thanksgiving-145880 
Native American Heritage Day falls on Black Friday

THANKSGIVING ALTERNATIVES - SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY
What Would You Do?
What Can You Say?
Anti-Thanksgiving Sites
How do YOU celebrate?  Cher and others answer the question.
5 Socially Accountable Ways To Celebrate Thanksgiving

PRESIDENTIAL PROCLAMATIONS
Analysis of Proclamations
2011-2012:  http://nativeamericanresources.blogspot.com/2012/11/2012-presidential-proclamations.html
2013:  http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2013/11/26/presidential-proclamation-thanksgiving-day-2013
2014:  http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2014/11/26/presidential-proclamation-thanksgiving-day-2014 

YOURS TRULY by CFT:  My Thoughts 2012 and moving forward…
On the day which everyone else celebrates "Thanksgiving," I have a dinner and see my kids, just like any other day of the week.  I don't make turkey (although I might a week earlier, since the price is right and we all like turkey).  With a football player and 2 cheerleaders, I DO go to the local football game in Concord.  When I am not at a game, I go to Plymouth for the Day of Remembrance at Cole's Hill at noon, but I can't get there by noon when there is a game.  I usually stay to break fast with the indigenous people who are there.  We congregate in the hall of the Pilgrim Church.

The biggest issue for me is the (inaccurate) association between Native Americans and Pilgrims.  The "pilgrim thanksgiving" was about prayer.  I mean, they were really religious and would NEVER have prayed in company of the people who they called "heathen savages."  In addition, each of the officially proclaimed Thanksgivings from Massachusetts Bay Coloney Governor Winthrop to United States Presidents, including Lincoln, were about being thankful for killing the "savages" (ie: Native Americans).   For me to "celebrate" on this day is like picking Hitler's birthday as a holiday and then asking Germans to be thankful for their blessings, never mind that it was Hitler's birthday.  Or, expecting Japanese-Americans to participate in a Veteran's Day scheduled on August 6, the day America bombed Hiroshima.   I am making up these examples, but you get the picture.  How can the events of the past be separated from the date of the present celebrations?  The atrocities are intertwined with the day.  They can't be pulled apart for me.

Then, there are other issues, like "everyone celebrates the harvest" and "our ancestors always had harvest festivals, no matter where they originated from, so I don't think about it being Native Americans and Pilgrims" - Well, that may be so, but those ancestors didn't do it "first" on this continent.  The fact that the Native American "firsts" are not honored is an issue, too.  It's not like somewhere else in the world Native Americans are creating and living their history, holidays, and festivals, like say Germans in Germany and Japanese in Japan.  This IS our land.  This is the ONLY place where it makes sense to honor and practice our history, culture, and traditions and the fact that we did things "first" and for thousands of years HERE.

Also, ancestors from other lands did not use these foods - corn, turkey, pecans, cranberry, sweet potato, beans, pumpkin, tomatoes, peppers, maple syrup, etc. since those are all native to the Americas.  For me, it's hard to see a tradition (giving thanks), that was part of my ancestors' practices, be turned into something that honors the oppression of my people without giving much credit to them for all that they did to make it what it is today.

No Pies for Thanksgiving 2007
http://nativeamericanresources.blogspot.com/2007/10/pies-for-thanksgiving.html
My Thanksgiving Alternative

My Letter and My Daughter's Letters to the Editor 2013
http://nativeamericanresources.blogspot.com/2013/11/letter-to-editor-one-hometown-two.html

Why I Am Not Thankful for Thanksgiving 2014
http://nativeamericanresources.blogspot.com/2014/11/why-i-am-not-thankful-for-thanksgiving.html