Why Thanksgiving doesn't mean much to me anymore

Why Thanksgiving doesn't mean much to me anymore 

Growing up we honestly didn't learn much about what Thanksgiving actually meant. To us it was the settlers eating dinner with Native Americans, that's the picture they put in our school rooms, showed us. Everyone is happy and grateful. So for years I believed that, until that day when you learn the truth. 

That day was many years ago when I was volunteering at Habitat for Humanity and I met someone. She was an actual Native American who grew up on a reservation. She was the kindest person I had ever met. She grew up believing that this is not our land but God's land and we are just keepers of it. That was something I have never forgotten. 

She believed in kindness even when she should have had every reason to hate us “white people” who did awful things to people she loved and no, it wasn't that far back. Her grandmother lived it, she had to cut her hair, not use her Native language and learn American ways against her will. 

They wanted them to lose their culture and make them Americans. Funny after we stole their land, raped their women, lied to them and killed millions of them and who were left made them move out of their land to places they thought would kill them, they still held on to who they were and their beliefs. 

Her relatives experienced catastrophic population decline due to factors like disease, violence, forced displacement, and the disruption of their way of life following European colonization.

Government policies, such as the Indian Removal Act, led to the forced removal of tribes from their ancestral lands. The Trail of Tears, a forced march of several nations to the west of the Mississippi, resulted in the deaths of thousands due to disease, starvation, and exposure.

 

Slavery and forced labor: Many Native Americans were forced into slavery or indentured servitude, particularly in Latin America, under brutal conditions. Kidnapping and enslavement of children also occurred.

 

Cultural assimilation: The federal government implemented policies aimed at erasing Native American cultures. 

Boarding schools: Children were forced to attend boarding schools where they were punished for speaking their native languages, forbidden from practicing their traditions, and forced to adopt European culture. 

Yet we learned nothing about this in school. I only learned this speaking to her and then her family. I've learned their culture and their ways and it never surprises me how they can still love with an open heart. 

So today my friends, when you sit down and enjoy your turkey with your family, make sure you ask for forgiveness for what your relatives did not so long ago. 

Think about the many Native Americans who will not be celebrating this day, a day of death and torture for them. Think about how we need to learn more about others and not just what they shove down our throats in school. 

The reason I have a united nations of friends is so I can personally learn about others cultures and experiences. This is why Thanksgiving doesn't mean much to me anymore.

Thank you to all my Native American friends, especially you my very dear soul sister Agasheee, for teaching me. I love you. 

Let's all be the change we want to see.

@TreadmillTreats