Thanksgiving, the dark gift that keeps on giving

The destruction of the Pequots and their fort near Stonington, Conn., by the English colonists under the command of Captain John Mason, May 1637. | Steel engraving, 19th century

Well, here we are again: Thanksgiving. I must say it is my most unfavorite time of the year, perhaps better called “Un-Thanksgiving,” or “Thanks-taking.” So tiring is all the hoopla generated by the massive propaganda machine designed to make money for America’s oligarchy.

The long lines at the airports, the cavalcades of automobiles on the highways, the countless advertisements of turkeys for the holiday feasts, the anticipation of the mainstream public for a sumptuous repast, the predictions by the news media that this Thanksgiving will be “the most traveled in history,” the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade—it is all part and parcel of an America that is ever so happy.

But there are some among us who are not jubilant at this time of year, this writer being among that number.

I wonder if so many of the soon to be overstuffed diners have any concept of one of the darkest episodes in the history of “thanksgiving” in North America’s history.

At the risk, which I will unabashedly take, of engaging in repetition, I must recount the bloody “thanksgiving” of 1637, when the governor of the Massachusetts Bay Colony, John Winthrop, proclaimed a day of thanksgiving in the wake of the massacre of several hundred Indigenous men, women, and children of the Pequot Nation by colonial soldiers. This is aptly documented by the now deceased famed Oglala Lakota activist Russell Means in his stellar book, Where White Men Fear to Tread.

For years, the Indigenous community has conducted a campaign to bring awareness to some true stories of Thanksgiving like this one in hopes of developing some type of anti-turkey day, an anti-colonial consciousness, The movement has been incremental; we are still waiting for more but remain optimistic.

There are many Indigenous folk who do indeed observe a big feast on this controversial day, but only as a time to commune with family and friends. There is no ideological partaking of the colonial myth.

We instead take great pride in the actions of the United American Indians of New England (UAINE). All praise is given to their commemoration of a National Day of Mourning (NDOM) beginning in 1970 at Cole’s Hill in in Plymouth, Mass.

These Indigenous people are descendants of those who are portrayed as having met the Pilgrims for the so-called “first Thanksgiving” in 1621. The NDOM focuses on the centuries of genocide that gave birth to the most rapacious imperialist power in world history.

The subsequent history is one of mass murder resulting from the conflict called Metacom’s War, in which thousands were killed on both sides with countless numbers of Indigenous condemned to slavery in the West Indies and even as far away as North Africa.

What can be done by mainstream U.S. society today to recognize these periods of history, to support the true narrative? A few suggestions: organizations can hire Indigenous staff, make donations to Indigenous organizations, work with Indigenous partners, join in Indigenous-led protests, and otherwise support Indigenous causes.

So as millions hit the roadways and airways, let’s hope that some of them will reflect on the full history of Thanksgiving from hundreds of years past and work for a better present and future.

De-colonize Thanksgiving.

As with all op-eds published by People’s World, this article reflects the views of its author.

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CONTRIBUTOR

Albert Bender

Albert Bender is a Cherokee activist, historian, political columnist, and freelance reporter. He is currently writing a legal treatise on Native American sovereignty and working on a book on the war crimes committed by the U.S. against the Maya people in the Guatemalan civil war He is a consulting attorney on Indigenous sovereignty, land restoration, and Indian Child Welfare Act (ICWA) issues.