Thanksgiving is best known for being a day to overeat, overwatch television, squabble with your in-laws, and occasionally express gratitude, but the truth is far more complex. In "My Thanksgiving," we speak with a group of Americans from all over the country — and the world — to learn about their Thanksgiving traditions. Some of the persons we spoke with had no ties to the past. Even the most cynical of Americans, on the other hand, silently observe the day, which is steeped in American mythology and has a convoluted origin story. In this segment, Larissa FastHorse, a Native American writer who came to the West Coast from South Dakota, discusses the holiday's narrative and how she strives to detach it from its painful origins.
My name is Sicangu Lakota, and I'm from the South Dakota tribes. In the past, like most Americans, we just kind of observed Thanksgiving as a lovely time to spend with your family. We've never done anything like this before, with Pilgrims and Indians or anything. That's never been a part of it, and it never will be. My family observes it as a day when we all get together and enjoy each other's company without mentioning [Thanksgiving], its history, or its significance.
"Oh, this would just be a hilarious, happy play about revisionist history," I thought at first when I created "Thanksgiving Play." I had no clue Thanksgiving had such a long and complicated history. The entire story is a fake. It's a made-up history that Abraham Lincoln forced into service at the end of the Civil War in an attempt to bring the country together.
What happened on the first day of Thanksgiving has many distinct interpretations. One depicts John Mason arriving early in the morning in a Pequot settlement, killing 300 men, women, and children, transporting their heads home, and then kicking them about the pilgrim colony as the first Thanksgiving ball game. In St. Augustine, Florida, the first Thanksgiving is claimed to have taken place. According to legend, the first Thanksgiving was held in El Paso, Texas, in April. Some even say the whole thing was staged to celebrate capitalism's triumph over communism with the Pilgrims.
The Pilgrims were record-keepers to a fault. When they arrived and raided all of the Native people's graves and stole all of their food, they wrote about it. When it came to writing about what they were up to, they didn't hold back. There isn't a single date when the stuff we see on TV about the Natives feeding the Pilgrims and all of that happened.
As a result, Thanksgiving is a mash-up of numerous events, some of which were really dark and brutal, while others were relatively calm and humanistic. There are numerous narratives from which to choose. It amazes me that so many people refuse to acknowledge them.
The Mohicans, for example, celebrate Thanksgiving. They'll tell you about the first time their forefathers saw the ships arrive. [First Contact] had a significant impact on both Native Americans and Pilgrims. They also had some truly incredible encounters, as is customary when learning about a new culture. I think it's wonderful that more people are organizing "National Day of Mourning" events across the country. There are more pow-wows this Thanksgiving than ever before.
There's nothing wrong with dedicating a day on our national calendar to express gratitude and reflect on our blessings. It's an excellent reason to go on vacation. It's a fantastic cause to do wonderful things, express gratitude, and think about others outside oneself. I only wish we could let go of the mythology that goes with it.
This year, we'll have a traditional Thanksgiving with a dominant culture. We have friends in Los Angeles who rely on us. Many people are orphaned as a result of their lack of family. Because I'll be in rehearsals for another production that week, that will be my only free day. My husband's favorite part of Thanksgiving is the sandwiches. We'll occasionally just cook the turkey first thing in the morning and eat it with sandwiches later. We go to the beach and roast leftover turkey sandwiches with stuffing, a little fried mashed potato, and cranberry sauce over an open fire because we live in California. With a sprinkle of mustard, my husband completes the dish. This is the limit of our etiquette. Seek for and follow the truth. Find and hold to the truth.
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