Doctors have warned us. Scientists have told us to stay away. Our state and local governments have asked us not to gather around the table with our extended families and friends this Thanksgiving in order to stop the spread of COVID-19. The question is, will we heed their warnings?
It shouldn’t be up for debate, and yet this past weekend nearly 3 million Americans traveled in airplanes. Is Thanksgiving worth the risk?
Thanksgiving itself has always had an odd hold on American culture and tradition. In elementary school, many of us are taught the myth of a peaceful interaction between white Europeans and Indigenous people, often reenacting the scene by making black pilgrim hats and construction-paper feathered headdresses.
In an attempt to hold onto that myth, earlier last week, Republican Sen. Tom Cotton scolded The New York Times for its 1619 curriculum, which asks students to confront America’s racist roots. Cotton stated, “Too many may have lost the civilization or self-confidence needed to celebrate the pilgrims.”
With good reason there are fewer pilgrim celebrations. In high schools and colleges, young adults have learned truths about those pilgrims murdering Indigenous people in droves in the name of conquest and land acquisition, the harrowing events of the Trail of Tears, and the forceful removal of Indigenous people from their lands to reservations. But even in this dire time, will Americans give up Thanksgiving?
It is a topic I brought to students at East Leyden High School while I was delivering a virtual presentation about November being American Indigenous Peoples Month (Native American Heritage Month). More specifically, I asked, “Do you celebrate Thanksgiving; if so, how? If not, why not?” I then told students they could also write about how Thanksgiving might look differently this year due to the pandemic.
Our school’s cultural makeup is diverse, and students’ answers reflected this. Their answers ran the gamut from having a “traditional” turkey dinner to playing la loteria to experiencing Thanksgiving for the first time in this country to abstaining because it wasn’t a part of their culture. Many students also explained that their Thanksgivings would look different this year as their families were opting for smaller gatherings or forgoing the holiday altogether.
My next question led into my presentation: What books or stories have you read written by Indigenous authors? Many typed in “none” to the chat. This wasn’t new to me; in a similar presentation last year, several classes fell silent, and no hands were raised when the same question was asked.
The purpose of the presentation was to introduce them to the month, inform them about the myths of the history of Thanksgiving and invite them to read a wide array of Indigenous authors.
I played them a video of Indigenous people observing the National Day of Mourning in place of Thanksgiving for the losses they endured. They learned from Indigenous teen girls that white men called the feasts they had after they had murdered Indigenous people “Thanksgiving.” I introduced authors who crushed the “Indian Princess” stereotype, wrote books about Navajo code talkers, described coming together for a large, contemporary powwow and trickster tales in graphic novel format. We watched slam poet Rowie Shebala depict white America’s exploitation of Indigenous culture as especially damning.
After every portion, we discussed what they were learning. Some students said that this Thanksgiving would not be the same, as they had learned truths from Indigenous people in the videos and book talk. One student brought her mother in to watch the lesson, telling her it was important to see.
Another student wrote this: “America misrepresents Indigenous peoples’ culture and identity by painting a single story of them just from either their personal experience or through American history and then using that for naming certain items or things like cars, football teams, etc. I’ve definitely been a participant because in school when I was little, I thought that Thanksgiving was about Indians and turkey and pilgrims, that’s all I thought they were and nothing more and I’m very ashamed of that.”
We shouldn’t wonder how “fake news” has easily taken over our present when some of our traditions are created from fake histories that we then teach our children in elementary school.
As our nation’s leading health experts ask us to take a break from Thanksgiving gatherings to save lives, we should also think about the history that this holiday is built upon — lost lives, specifically Indigenous ones. This Thanksgiving should be easy for us to say no to attend, and the holiday as a whole should be one we redesign to atone for our country’s sins.
Gina Caneva is the library media specialist for East Leyden High School in Franklin Park.
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