Balancing mourning with collective ritual and celebration
Now is a great time to incorporate new traditions to your Thanksgiving celebration.
I’m not one to dictate how people should spend their holidays but I do think that as we collectively raise our consciousness around certain topics—like Thanksgiving and Native American Heritage Day (the day after the recognized holiday)—that we find new ways to incorporate integration of the truth of those traditions/rituals with increased openness to new perspectives.
As our collective culture continues to unravel and unlearn much of the whitewashed history around Thanksgiving and join the movement towards “decolonizing our minds” as we receive more information, well, from my perspective there is simply no possible way to “decolonize Thanksgiving.” That means, there is no way to separate the terrible history of imperialism and colonialism from what the holiday currently represents.
In the last few years, my love of the holiday has been tempered with the real and unfortunate fact that our beloved holiday was sold to us as a celebration when, in fact, its history is much more complicated, violent and rooted in the oppression of Wampanoag tribe. Maturing as an adult for me means that I have to come to terms with the fact that the origins of this holiday are disrespectful and malformed, no matter how you spin it.
To be clear, I’m not trying to tell anyone how to spend their time, especially since we don’t give ourselves enough time with our friends and families. This short post is not an attempt to shame you out of celebrating a holiday. What I am offering is a way for us to evolve our practice of celebration with new understanding. Maybe we don’t have to blindly celebrate this holiday as a means of escaping our deep dissatisfaction with our white supremacist, capitalistic society, but instead choose to honor and openly acknowledge that we all sit on stolen land.
So what can we do?
And subsequently, what feels honest and intentional but not performative and opportunistic?
Consider this list a very humble and small start to the ever-evolving journey of cultural and social education. This by no means the ultimate list, but it is a start to expanding our perspectives and education:
Include Native American Heritage Day in your Thanksgiving celebration
Find ways to incorporate in your gratitude and thanks, a recognition of Native American Day with your friends and family. Use this day (and any days moving forward) to center and educate yourself about Native and Indigenous culture.
Check out Native American museums and cultural centers.
As much as possible, learn about Native cultures straight from the source, by researching local tribes and visiting their museums, cultural centers, and events. On CT.gov website, it shares five places to visit in Connecticut, including the Mashantucket Pequot Museum & Research Center. And wherever you live, you can also visit the Museum of Indian Arts + Culture online.
Get comfortable with the concept of colonialism and start the journey of understanding the Native and Indigenous perspective
There are so many amazing writers that share their perspective through their amazing storytelling. Here are a few writers (and their books) to checkout:
Visit the Smithsonian’s National Museum of the American Indian
This exhibition offers an online exhibition, including a virtual art and history collection from tribes around the globe. It’s one of the most comprehensive collections of Indigenous education; it’s worth the time for the experience and the learnings.
Begin the practice of support, exchange and collective honor
Giving to Indigenous communities isn’t charity. It is simply the appropriate way to be in right relationship with people who actually lay claim to our land. Every day that we live on stolen land, we also benefit from colonialism. Whether you decide to donate to the tribes that are local to your area or make a commitment with your family to hold a fast on Thanksgiving, it’s the act of exchange that’s important. Even in the act of fasting, you are acknowledging this day as a day of mourning and showing your psychical resistance to celebrating a colonial holiday.
So as you head into this holiday weekend, just take some time to reflect on how you’ll expand and evolve your time with family by celebrating both Thanksgiving and Native American Heritage Day. We owe it to ourselves and to the Indigenous and Native American people, to make space for their unending grief, not as a way to absolve ourselves but to slowly give their perspectives and stories the energy and acknowledgment it deserves.
Wishing you a safe and honor-filled holiday weekend.