Ah yes, inner conflict on the holidays!

[silverthorne]

So, for a while now, I've been as aware of the fact that the colonists this whole holiday sprung up around were the beginning throes of the death of the various native american ways of life, as I am as of what I was taught as a kid, which was we were actually thankful those natives helped that colony recover and thrive after their first winter of getting sick and dying in a place they weren't prepared to live in.

I agree with the 'let's be thankful and give thanks', but at the same time I cringe, because I know that it's really only important as that type of holiday to people who didn't have ancestors that got the shaft afterwards once those colonists, and the ones that followed, started mowing over the people that were already living here.

I can't hold people living today responsible for that, of course. They, we, weren't the ones who did that, and hopefully none of the folks I know at least, would stand for it now if they could prevent it when they saw it happening.

So, I guess, my holiday greeting should go something like this:

Happy Thanksgiving. Be sure to give thanks for all that you have, whether it be in the form of people, things, or spiritual strength.

By the same token, if you can find it in your hearts to remember and understand, don't forget to say a prayer for the unfortunate people who paid the price for what you have today. Say a prayer for them and for folks that even today are repressed, suppressed and killed for simply being where they were and what they were, and if you can, try and do something for them. Donate to a charity geared towards them, research some of their culture and honor it, since it was that culture that kept your ancestors alive long enough to bring us to where we are today on this land, and if you're actually right there with them? Offer a hand.

And even if your ancestors and you didn't directly benefit? Try and remember anyway. Just because it wasn't your people, doesn't mean you shouldn't. Until everyone takes responsibility for everyone else, this will keep happening, and there will always be divisions that will be exploited. So...try and remember that too. No one escapes it.

And most importantly, remember what really happened, including afterward, and pass that rememberance on to others so that maybe some day we'll all learn that that isn't the way to repay a kindness. And apply it to all people, no matter who or what they are.

...okay, off the soapbox now. *hugs to all*

Have a good one. Love them if you got them.

Comments

[paradisacorbasi.livejournal.com]

Well spoken, IMO.

I'm only like 1/8 Amerind, but still. Your point is good and right.

We were taught that the Native Americans did help the colonists through their first winter, and the colonists would not have survived without them.

It's the unfortunate part that comes after that's the sad legacy of not just Thanksgiving, but American History in general.

[molotovcoqtiz.livejournal.com]

I agree with the 'let's be thankful and give thanks', but at the same time I cringe, because I know that it's really only important as that type of holiday to people who didn't have ancestors that got the shaft afterwards once those colonists, and the ones that followed, started mowing over the people that were already living here.

No, not quite. I am one of those people and I see this holiday as I see Christmas. One day, once upon a time, this may have meant something different but to the 4 people in this house that all have Native ancestors, it's a time to gather as a family and give thanks for what we have.

Just as Christmas has deviated to little more than family gathering and commercialism, so Thanksgiving is little more than a time to gather and be thankful. Just as as a woman I reclaim the word bitch and embrace it, so as a Native can I take the bad and turn it into something to embrace in this day and age.

My ancestors didn't die, here or in European nations, for me to wallow in the atrocities of the past but rather to look forward so that I might shape a better future.

[silverthorne.livejournal.com]

Then I stand corrected.

Many are not as forgiving.

[skywardprodigal.livejournal.com]

It varies from indiviual to individual; group to group (http://www.pilgrimhall.org/daymourn.htm). I think some people think they'd forgive if they didn't see the wrongs as ongoing (http://lfpress.ca/cgi-bin/publish.cgi?p=131981&x=articles&s=societe).

[derek-bliss.livejournal.com]

Thank you for this perspective as well. This is actually the one I'm usually familiar with when I talk to native american folks, especially when I lived in Tucson, where there are Apache, Navaho, Hopi and the Tacoma Oodam (I have that spelled way wrong, I know it), as well as San Xaxier mission, which is on the reservation about 20 minutes down I-10 to the south of the city. It's not that they're angry about it when they talk, but they are very aware of history.

I will also note that most of these folks work and participate in the Tucson economy, as well as the 'nearby' White Mountain Apache Ski Resort (Which is owned by that Apache tribe), so it isn't like they're 'trapped' on the rez and living off the government. (Because some people also make the mistake of trying to say 'oh they're angry because they're poor (among other stereotypical ideas, like getting drunk all the time) and still stuck on the rez.)

I guess the real point I was trying to get across though was that if we forget history, it'll repeat itself. By the same token, anger doesn't help either. Spreading respect and help though? That might. The event itself was good, but it's one of the very few good examples of 'our' relations with native americans as a whole until fairly recently.

I think it's just as fair to remember the bad as well as the good, and be thankful that we can remember it so that we can teach others why the negative aspects shouldn't happen any more. I mean, heck, there are some people that are already trying to say the Holocaust never happened and was a set up (I've actually talked to co-workers who insist on it). And if we bury that under history, it's a vital example of 'why we shouldn't do this, or allow it' that'll be lost for a long time.