OPINION: As we recognize the 400th anniversary of the first Thanksgiving, now is the time for the United States to deprogram itself from the myth of the Thanksgiving narrative
As we recognize the 400th anniversary of the first Thanksgiving, now is the time for the United States to deprogram itself from the myth of the Thanksgiving narrative — that fake history that tells us the Pilgrims landed on Plymouth Rock and became friends with the Native Americans, and they all lived happily ever after.
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The reality is far more troubling, a history of the slaughter and dislocation of indigenous people. And it is incumbent upon us to honor and acknowledge the original people of this land and the suffering they have endured.
We all live on stolen land, land which was built over ancestral burial grounds. But do we know who came before us, and who cultivated the land for thousands of years? I live in Philadelphia on the traditional lands of the Lenape people. Whose land do you occupy? Do you know? And do you care?
On this 400th anniversary of the first encounter between the Pilgrims and the Wampanoags, Thanksgiving is a time of mourning, part of “The Great Dying” when disease brought on the Europeans’ Mayflower ship nearly wiped them out. The Wampanoags, who were on the land for 10,000 years, taught the White people how to plant crops and get through their first harvest, ensuring their survival. Contrary to the myth that the Pilgrims shared in their bounty and invited the Wampanoags over for a dinner feast, no such event occurred.
Source: The US must deprogram its Thanksgiving mindset and honor Native Americans
