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, the vast majority of native people 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.
This entry was posted on Wednesday, November 23rd, 2005 at 10:45 pm and is filed under Common Sense, General, society.
You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.
You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
November 23rd, 2005 at 11:49 pm
I tried to start reading “Burry My Heart at Wounded Knee,” twice and couldn’t get past the opening pages for the tears. I suppose they didn’t call it the “trail of tears,” for nothing. History, is powerful and palpable, but if forgotten a waste.
Doomed to repeat our mistakes, I suggest we work to remember, however painful it may be so that we don’t repeat.
You are right Ken, when you say there are other issues to reconcile these days, but perhaps none more important than a reconciliation with the Native Peoples of our continent.
Blog on.
November 24th, 2005 at 7:41 am
We could learn a lot from our native peoples about many things, including such things as forest management. When the pioneers came to this part of Oregon, they were greeted not with clear skies, but often with smoky horizons caused by fires, set on purpose by the native folks for the purpose of keeping the forests healthy by burning away the tinder-like underbrush. As the settlers took over, the native approach to forest management dwindled until we adopted the “preserve the forest at all costs” strategy of the past 50 to 60 years. As a result, the forests in this area are choked with underbrush, the trees are unhealthy and susceptible to infestations, and when fires occur, they tend to be huge. The native Americans’ familiarity with the ways of nature was not something the settlers were able to understand. It’s a shame the two had such a hard time meeting in the middle. Natives used the land, but they respected it and proved good stewards for centuries. It only took the settlers about one century to mess a lot of things up.
Ken, I like reading at your blog because you write intelligently, with great eloquence. I agree with you and with Windspike, there may be nothing more important than living in harmony with the Native Americans. How to begin to reconcile? I suggest starting by respecting the Native Americans’ historical culture as well as their recent struggles for identity.
However we go about it, you are right to suggest that we are all in it together, here in America. There should be room at the Thanksgiving table for everyone!
November 25th, 2005 at 8:18 am
Ah, those traditional American values: Overwhelm and conquer. Crush indigenous cultures beneath the bootheel of colonial expansionism. Thanks is given by many… for being victorious. Some things never change.
November 28th, 2005 at 4:43 am
Well said as usual.
So many fences to mend!! One has to wonder if Indian-American (or African-American) injustices will ever (or can ever) be undone.
November 28th, 2005 at 6:05 pm
(response)
Windspike- Bury My Heart is one of my library keepers, and I’ve read it several times. I guess having some Indian blood running through my veins makes it both harder to stomach but important to read and know what happened.
Hope your holiday was thoughtful and good.
Snave- Thanks for the compliments. And I agree that the native people in this country do have much to offer if we only listen to them. They thrived here long before the white man ever did.
Shea- Agreed. Some things do never change. Especially when those doing the conquering think they are on a mission from God.
Harvey- Can they be undone? No. Can they be addresses and mended? Yes. Thanks for the comment.
November 29th, 2005 at 4:52 pm
While I recognize what happened in early America, and that I have Native American ancestry, there is no point in being apologetic about it. No one living during that time is alive today. No one living today was a victim of those actions, and no one living today committed those actions. Why should people who are innocent apologize for something that was not of their making? They shouldn’t. That is my only gripe. We should learn the truth, and embrace it. America was great in those days, from a certain perspective. America is much better today, because we have learned from the mistakes of our past. While America is not perfect, I would not call any other nation my home.
Peace be apon you.