Throughout schools across America we’ve been taught that Thanksgiving was a celebration between the friendship of pilgrims and the Indigenous people in 1621. While the concept of a feast did happen, it wasn’t as friendly or grateful as it was taught to be. What happened on Thanksgiving was actually something of a political alliance rather than a friendly dinner where the tribe, Wampanoag, saw the pilgrims as potential allies. Suffering from the diseases brought by the Europeans and would’ve likely agreed to the alliance with the Pilgrims, as it would give them more power against any of their rival tribes. Even though the Thanksgiving that the Pilgrims had wasn’t the first, Native Americans would hold seasonal harvest ceremonies similar to that of Thanksgiving.
Thanksgiving was not nationally recognized until President Lincoln declared it to be during the Civil War in 1863. In the beginning, Thanksgiving was more of a religious endeavor, rather than an acknowledgment of Indigenous and colonial relations.
The day after Thanksgiving, is nationally recognized as the National Native American Heritage Day, but much of the community rejects this day and thinks that it’s tone deaf because it is right after the day of mourning for the American Indigenous community. Thanksgiving in general is quite a controversial topic in the American Indigenous community. Some indigenous families do celebrate with meals or gatherings, celebrating their culture, while others fully refute the notion of Thanksgiving.
During Thanksgiving, hundreds of Indigenous Americans around the Plymouth, Massachusetts area will come together to march for the National Day of Mourning, where they honor their ancestors, people who suffered through the violent colonization of America. They protest against the constant misinformation spread about Indigenous American history, and call attention to many ongoing disputes that the Government of the United States still has with many Indigenous tribes. On the West Coast, the Peoples’ Sunrise Ceremony, also known as Unthanksgiving Day, is held on Alcatraz Island. This is where many Indigenous people honor their ancestors, sing songs, give speeches, and overall celebrate their voices and culture, which has long been, silenced under the pretense of an American family holiday
Modern-day Thanksgiving has pretty much stayed the same throughout the years. While the tradition of Thanksgiving dinners with family and friends has been going strong, some new traditions have been added to the list. One example is a Friendsgiving, where friends will gather around to have a meal before the actual Thanksgiving, where they spend it with their families, or the Turkey Trot, where people race to burn calories before the big Thanksgiving meal and sometimes raise money for charity.
While the tradition of Thanksgiving has changed throughout the years, the original meaning of Thanksgiving has not lost its value. Being grateful for everything you have is something that is shared across all cultures and shouldn’t be restricted to just a Thanksgiving holiday. Whether or not you celebrate Thanksgiving or not make sure to tell the people around you how grateful you are for them.
