Thanksgiving is a time when families get together, snack on appetizers, enjoy each other’s company and get ready for the main meal. Maybe they’ll bicker about controversial topics like religion and politics. Maybe they’ll be like this family and have a “Family Code of Conduct.” Usually, they’ll leave with full bellies and takeout containers. But for a segment of the U.S. population, celebrating Thanksgiving at all is bittersweet. Sure, there’s the familial connections and refreshments. But for those who really know the war that resulted in wiping out millions of people, this is anything but a celebratory day.
Understanding and Navigating Thanksgiving’s Dark History
Explaining Thanksgiving history to your kids is complicated. While they may look at it as a light-hearted story of pilgrims and “Indians” meeting and having a turkey dinner with all the fixings, the actual history is far more complicated than that. In the 1600s, approximately 90 Wampanoag natives saw English foreigners (i.e., pilgrims) on their land and wondered why they were there. Chief Massasoit even went as far as requesting that his powwows (shaman, which is a religious healer) summon the spirits to make the Pilgrims leave. That didn’t happen.
They had a treaty, the Pilgrim-Wampanoag Peace Treaty, drafted and signed on March 22, 1621 CE by the governor John Carver of the Plymouth Colony and Massasoit of the Wampanoag Confederacy. All parties honored that treaty until the chief died in 1661 CE. The result after that? Countless wars against natives for at least 250 years, not including the Jamestown Massacre and the Pequot War that were happening when Massasoit was alive, resulting in the native population of up to 15 million being almost killed off with only 238,000 indigenous people left.
There’s no delicate way for teachers or parents to explain how tension was so high that Mvskoke Creek women were killing their own children so they would not see soldiers butcher them. When one woman tried to kill her baby, Andrew Jackson grabbed the child from the mother and gave the child to his wife Rachel to mutually raise. On the surface, Jackson (the seventh president) sounds like a do-gooder who tried to rescue a child. However, Jackson was also volatile enough to kill a man for insulting his wife and responsible for the Indian Removal Act of 1830, the latter of which forced the Five Civilized Tribes (including the Cherokees) to move off of their land so white settlers could have it. When they refused, the military then forced them off their own land. The Second Seminole War started in 1835 because of this stolen land.
Mixed Messages About the Holiday’s Purpose
While some historical decisions have been made that differ from the way U.S. residents celebrate Thanksgiving versus the way it was celebrated four centuries ago, a few details aren’t worth making into a big deal. Sure, the initial Thanksgiving celebration wasn’t inside of a home and had no signs of turkey on anyone’s plate. But then there are other curious differences such as how consistently today’s Thanksgiving enthusiasts “give thanks” for this day, pray with their families and may even go as far as creating group events to gush about great moments throughout the year. Meanwhile, the pilgrims weren’t documented for praying until there was a drought and risk of crops not growing.
While beer may be served in today’s Thanksgiving host’s home, like the pilgrims drank, the odds of family members taking a moment to start shooting their guns isn’t exactly a “Thanksgiving tradition.” But when the pilgrims and natives met and had their meals together (with menu items ranging from fish to venison and vegetables), guns were literally being fired (for fun).
Should Thanksgiving Be Celebrated At All?
Natives may feel the same way about Thanksgiving as Black people like abolitionist Frederick Douglass felt about celebrating the Fourth of July. Although both federal holidays are widely celebrated and taught to be positive moments in history, for those who were not free or were at risk of losing their land, honoring this day is a mixed bag. But just as African-Americans choose to celebrate Juneteenth and the Fourth of July, even though both have a connection to slavery, choosing to participate or not participate is an individual decision.
The post Is Thanksgiving a Day of Celebration Or a Day of Dark U.S. History? appeared first on Blavity.
