I was going to say more non-native people are becoming aware of the true history about Thanksgiving, but I’m not sure that is true.
Some ways to educate ourselves and others can be found in the following resources from my friends at the Great Plains Action Society One way to begin conversations is to point out that many Indigenous peoples refer to the holiday as Truthsgiving. “The truth will not be whitewashed”.
It is said we should avoid talking about religion and politics at family gatherings to avoid conflicts. But avoiding these topics continues the whitewashed versions of relations between non-native and Indigenous Peoples.
Besides being the right thing to do, it is becoming increasingly clear that politics in the land called the United States is breaking/has broken down. The capitalist economy is showing signs of collapse. Capitalism puts a price on everything, including natural resources.
Increasingly frequent and severe storms and environmental chaos mean, among other things, that we need a different approach. Which is why I looked for opportunities to get to know and learn from Indigenous peoples. This is a diagram I’ve been working on for over a year to try to give an overview of relationships among White, Black, and Indigenous cultures and systems.
When I asked my friends what I could do that would be most helpful, they told me to learn about the concepts of #LANDBACK and share what I learn. Several months ago, I built a new website, landbackfriends.com, that discusses these issues from my perspective as a White person.
Following are the resources referred to in Step 1 above, Educate Yourself.
Truthsgiving, Day of Mourning, Anti-Thanksgiving Resources
Truthsgiving Webinar: Great Plains Action Society
Truthsgiving: Why we Must Abolish Colonial Holidays that Perpetuate Dangerous Stereotypes and Whitewashed History
Thanksgiving Promotes Whitewashed History, So I Organized Truthsgiving Instead
What Does Thanksgiving Mean to Native Americans?
The Thanksgiving Tale We Tell Is a Harmful Lie. As a Native American, I’ve Found a Better Way to Celebrate the Holiday.
A Thanksgiving Message From Seven Amazing Native Americans
The Future is Indigenous: Decolonizing Thanksgiving
For Me, Thanksgiving Is a ‘Day of Mourning’
How to Decolonize Your Thanksgiving Dinner
A Native American Chef Grapples with Thanksgiving and Tries to Create an Authentic Tasting Menu
Enough Thanksgiving Myths. Schools Should Teach Indigenous History
Wet’suwet’en peoples
Last week, for the third time in as many years, heavily militarized RCMP invaded Wet’suwet’en territories to remove land defenders so construction on the Coastal GasLink pipeline could continue. Following is some of the latest news.
This time ‘round what’s more frustrating is they want to hide the corruption that they’ve been doing. They got exposed the last time, so heaven forbid they get exposed for their violence and using militarized police so now they’re holding media people in jail and that is so wrong. It’s like there’s no freedom of the press anymore and it almost doesn’t even feel like we’re in so-called Canada anymore when you don’t even have freedom of the press. And who knows if they’re keeping their footage and deleting footage to make sure they cover up the corruptness that is happening, which I feel it is so wrong. And people need to know. There’s corruptness all around and all I know is it’s not going to last. It will not last and they will be their own demise because you can’t keep going on with evil and corruptness. It’s going to find you out, it’s going to be exposed into the light. My family’s a praying family and we’ve been praying for this project and their corruptness. It’s going to all be found out and I don’t believe their project’s gonna go.
Natural disasters happening down south and they should have been down there helping the poor people in all the floods and yet they send, what, 60-80 cops up here to arrest peaceful protestors when people are struggling because of climate change which this project has been contributing to it. And they’re here protecting industry because all their pensions are invested in it and the federal government has to pay back every one of those investors because of the Harper deal that he made with investors. If they invest money here, if it doesn’t go, they have to pay them back that money. So that’s why the Trudeau government is backing these projects and amending and changing all the legislation so that these projects go through. So, eventually they’ll be found out.
LANDBACK Friends 