Thanksgiving Day-Two Sides to Every Story
November 22nd, 2006 | by Ken Grandlund |Thanksgiving is one of our oldest national holidays, and is purely American in its origins. Ostensibly, we are honoring the European settlers who managed to carve out a living in a strange and not altogether hospitable new land. They began this holiday themselves, to rejoice at their good fortune for staying alive against the odds. Legend tells us that they enjoyed their feast with members of a local native Indian tribe, who had helped them survive by teaching them about their new world. It was a bountiful feast, filled with camaraderie and laughter and food. At least that’s the version we learn as children.
The first feast was such a success that it became an annual event, and eventually a national holiday. Today it is celebrated with a feast of similar proportions, a gathering of family and friends, and even some actual thankfulness at our own state of fortune.
Sadly, those early collaborations between the native people and the newcomers did not last. When they first arrived and began to die off at alarming rates, the colonists accepted the help of the natives knowing that to not do so would mean failure and death. They wanted to succeed, so despite their feelings of superiority over the “primitive” Indians, the colonists found some humility and paid attention. But once they learned how to manipulate their new lands, and learned about native animals and plants from the Indian people, the colonists reverted to their natural state of superiority and the spirit of that first Thanksgiving faded fast.
The centuries that followed turned ugly for Native American populations. White settlers drove them from traditional hunting and living grounds. White settlers changed the landscape to suit themselves, without regard for the natural cycle that nourished the Indian way of life for thousands of years. White settlers tried to force their religion and their lifestyle on the native people, who couldn’t understand the point and didn’t want to emulate these strange ways. White settlers eventually declared open war on all Native Americans, killing entire tribes and forcing the rest into lives of squalor and poverty on reservations. The conquest of America was an absolute success for the European settlers. We remember their success with Thanksgiving. The conquest of America was an absolute disaster for Native Americans. We have yet to own up to that.
American Indians are among the poorest people in America. Those who have managed to hold on to their tribal status and have secured land for themselves through the reservation system are in better condition than those whose tribes were officially disbanded by the federal government. Decades of corruption in the Bureau of Indian Affairs have rendered that department useless in solving any lingering animosity or debauchery on the part of the government and their corporate benefactors. Even as some tribes reclaim a chance at prosperity through casino and hotel establishments, many native people still live apart from the modern world. Their reality is a legacy to the deliberate actions of all American administrations from the beginning to today. Those actions include displacement, imprisonment, malnourishment, abandonment and genocide. We celebrate Thanksgiving and its tacit acceptance of how we came to rule this land. What do the Indians celebrate?
History can’t be undone, and reparations are not always the answer to every historical wrong. Sometimes, the only choice is to acknowledge what has happened and agree to move forward together. Even today as reservation councils make efforts to modernize their homes and towns, a spirit of adversity permeates relations between white descendants and Native Americans. Rightly wary of all government promises or negotiations, Indian tribes are increasing their separation as a people even as they lure whites to their casinos. The result is a continuation of their own poverty and an exacerbation of our own reticence to change the status quo.
The answer to reconciliation is one that requires an honest effort to put aside the wrongs committed in the past, compensating more fairly for some of those transgressions, accepting responsibility for the rest. Both cultures exacted harsh punishments on the other, but the Indians certainly got the worst end of the deal. Strangely though, as our species outgrows the resources of the world, we may actually benefit from a resumption of the original relationship between Native Americans and the colonists. The truth is that when we work together without trying to conquer each other we all flourish.
There may be more important issues happening in the world today than the state of American-Indian affairs. We suffer from a federal government that is at war with its own citizens as well as with other nations. We live in the shadow of a murky enemy who wants to destroy the freedom of our democracy. We wither under the weight of our own apathy as we watch our way of life grow more uncertain. Welcome to the world of the American Indian, who has lived with these problems for far too long. So while other issues are more pressing or urgent or vocal, it is never to soon to repair the rift between white America and Native Americans.
Maybe, if we really set our minds to it, we can soon celebrate a Thanksgiving that actually resembles the first one- a feast among friends who have worked together to stave off failure and death. It is time for a gathering of all Americans, regardless of ancestry.
(originally posted on Common Sense)
[tag]Thanksgiving, history, Native+Americans[/tag]
11 Responses to “Thanksgiving Day-Two Sides to Every Story”
By Ann on Nov 22, 2006 | Reply
Excellent post Ken. To the utter dismay of my history teachers many years ago, I’ve long since been disenamoured with the ’Swallows and Amazons’ version of British colonial history (as ‘civilizers’, ‘liberators’, ‘explorers’… etc) dished out to us through our esteemed educational establishments. Thankfully (and inexplicably) I realised at a relatively young age that what they say - history is written by the victors - is so true, for all aspects of our past (you’re probably already aware of my interest in social/medical history!). Unfortunately, these days more than ever, it’s also true that history is written by those who are “financed” to do so by those whom, if the truth were told, the future would frown upon.
I read another great article on the subject of Thanksgiving the other day, here’s an excerpt: ”The myth of Thanksgiving, served up with dollops of European superiority and manifest destiny, just does not work for many people in this country. As Malcolm X once said about the African-American experience in America, “We did not land on Plymouth Rock. Plymouth Rock landed on us.”http://zmagsite.zmag.org/Nov2006/munro1106.html
By Doc on Nov 22, 2006 | Reply
Do you have a PhD in history? Neither do I. Even if you do, there’s plenty of disagreement amongst historians, so why should I trust your account of what went on vs anyone else’s? If I prefer to believe that there was both camaraderie and conflict, good actions and bad, on both sides, and that the bottom line is that the settlers won for a variety of reasons and I’m glad of it, why should I accept your criticism of that point of view? If nothing else, you could just think of it as evolution in action. Survival of the fittest. Last man standing.
By frstlymil on Nov 22, 2006 | Reply
Great post, Ken.
Well, Doc - I’m not sure what “disagreement among historians” you speak of. The fact is the Christian settlors did what they do pretty much anywhere, and have done for centuries - assume that anyone different in appearance, religion or culture is somehow subhuman and must be changed to accomodate them - or at least become a fine domestic servant. The Europeans eventually tried to turn the natives into slaves - and since natives would have none of that, wholesale slaughter ensued (setting the stage for the later kidnapping of slaves from Africa - America needs its cheap labor). Let’s not forget the smallpox infested blankets given to the natives by the settlors. This is all historical information readily available to you and does not even require a PhD - it’s taught at the undergrad level and some highschools. My family has gotten very used to me, at the Thanksgiving dinner table, asking for a moment of silence in remembrance of the indigenous people that were annihilated and impoverished so that we could eat ourselves sick and watch football.
By JoeC on Nov 22, 2006 | Reply
Those scholastic Pilgrim and Indian stories we grew up with also rarely mentioned the first words an Indian spoke to the Pilgrims: Can I have a beer? Also, Squanto had lived in Spain and London for a decade during the time Shakespeare was writing Macbeth before he returned to the New World in time to teach those naive Pilgrims how to fertilize their corn:
http://joecrubaugh.com/blog/2006/11/22/squanto-the-renaissance-indian/
By Craig R. Harmon on Nov 22, 2006 | Reply
Doc,
There’s not much scholarly debate over whether native inhabitants of this land were mistreated, in some cases entirely wiped out by diseases brought here by Europeans and by design, that is, by systematic ghettoing of those who would go and intentional genocide for those who would not. Nor is there much debate as to whether we gave lands and then took lands back, made treaties only to promptly break them. I’m not sure what debate you’re talking about.
By Jersey McJones on Nov 22, 2006 | Reply
Yeah JoeC, and the second thing he said quietly to himself under his breath (”Oh no, God damned fuckin Jesus Freak Pilgrims.”).
JMJ
By Dusty on Nov 22, 2006 | Reply
Well now, I feel bad because I was going to wish every one an enjoyable Thanksgiving/Football day. There goes my good thought for the day.
I am going to go get drunk now and prepare for tomorrows grand 3 count em 3 NFL games…a new tradition has been created :)
By Doc on Nov 22, 2006 | Reply
Well, you know what they say: history is written by the victors. In this case, the victors of the academic wars, which have left nearly every history dept in the hands of folks who have, shall we say, a dim view of Christianity and America. In fact, my guess is none of us here have examined the relevant original documents that might serve to establish such things as:
Who fired on whom, when, and why
To what degree it is rational to assert land ownership on the part of people who may or may not have been nomadic, and who themselves immigrated to the land at some point in history anyway
Who tended to behave atrociously towards whose enemies and to what degree
Who had a civilization more likely to promote mercy, justice, peace
As it is, mostly what we have are professors whose objectivity I have reason to question claiming all sorts of mopery and dopery perpetrated by English settlers. You can believe them if you like. I don’t, and my four children don’t. Since those of us who tend to honor the accomplishments of the Pilgrims etc are out-reproducing those who don’t, eventually the demographics will kick in. Just think of it as evolution in action. Survival of the fittest. Last man standing.
By Jersey McJones on Nov 22, 2006 | Reply
Doc, what the fuck are you talking about?
JMJ
By Liberal Jarhead on Nov 25, 2006 | Reply
Actually, the pilgrims would have had that beer - the reason they decided it was time to land the Mayflower when and where they did was that they had run out of beer and needed to make more. Look it up.