If any of us traced our lineage back far enough, we would find our ancestors celebrating the harvest in their own unique way; with foods, stories, games, and songs
cultivated in a rich, place based, cultural tradition. As the season turns from the peaks of abundance, light, and long working hours we share collectively in the bounty of the year. We indulge in good food and company of our family and community to lift our spirits as we head into (what has historically been, and still is at Dancing Rabbit) a time of darkness, cold, hunkering down, reflection and preparation for the year ahead.
There is a tragic irony in the fact that our country’s predominant harvest festival is rooted in a history of dispossession of the people who sustainably tended this land for millennia. Though, grappling with these truths is a crucial step in healing the rift between our present way of life and
the natural world.
While I won’t go into the full history here (resources below), the original Thanksgiving feast represented a brief moment of precarious cooperation between Puritan settlers and the indigenous Wampanoag Nation.
This moment was preceded by an epidemic which decimated indigenous peoples (the only reason the Puritans were able to settle), taking of slaves to Europe and ransacking of graves and store houses by settlers. Afterwards, there were countless broken treaties, genocide, forced removal and a near complete colonization and destruction of the world indigenous people inhabited for millennia. In spite of these immense hardships, the history of Native Americans is also one of great strength, resilience,
and revitalization: rooted in values that resonate with so many of us: respect for family and elders, deep care for the land, and an obligation to do right by the next generation.
So how can we resist perpetuating harmful narratives and
re-imagine Thanksgiving in a way that honors the true history? While I’m still grappling with this myself, there are many examples of Indigenous resistances to Thanksgiving that we can look to for guidance.
One that our community has
started looking to is called Truthsgiving. This is a movement created by the indigenous led Great Plains Action society. It invites us to reject colonial holidays by learning and sharing the real stories of indigenous struggle, resistance and triumph, and performing acts of mutual aid and love to support folks in our community. They have an easy to follow pledge, as well as tons of great resources. (linked below)
