Happy Thanksgiving 2020

Before I get to the  Golden Age of Hollywood pinups I traditionally post on holidays, I would like to address a question many might have. Namely, why would someone of Cherokee descent, such as myself, celebrate Thanksgiving? After all, many Native Americans view the holiday as a celebration of the genocide the colonists committed upon indigenous peoples and observe it as a day of mourning. And I can fully understand their point of view. After all, the Wampanoag who are said to have dined with the Pilgrims in Plymouth, suffered greatly for their contact with British settlers. And, sadly, the mythology of that Thanksgiving celebrated at Plymouth seems intimately tied to the holiday.

That having been said, contrary to popular belief, the Thanksgiving observed at Plymouth was not the first in what would become the United States. As far as Europeans go, Spanish explorer Francisco Vasquez de Coronado and his men observed a Thanksgiving on May 23 1541. As far as the British Colonies go, Thanksgiving was observed at Berkeley Hundred in Virginia in 1619. Of course, here I have to point out that various Native American tribes were observing Thanksgiving rituals well before any Europeans arrived in North America. The Seneca have Thanksgiving rituals that last four days, and other Iroquois nations have their own Thanksgiving rituals as well. The Cherokee have several different ceremonies at which we give thanks, including the Great New Moon Ceremony, the Exalting Bush Festival, and the Ripe Corn Ceremony.

Given that various Native American tribes have their own Thanksgiving rituals and I feel that the act of giving thanks is something important to do from time to time, my only strong objection to Thanksgiving is the mythology of the Pilgrims attached to it. To me the solution is then to divorce the Pilgrims myth from the holiday and observe it purely as a time to give thanks for what we have in our lives. Wilma Mankiller, the first woman to serve as Principal Chief of the Cherokee Nation, expressed my view perfectly, "We celebrate Thanksgiving along with the rest of America, maybe in different ways and for different reasons. Despite everything that's happened to us since we fed the Pilgrims, we still have our language, our culture, our distinct social system. Even in a nuclear age, we still have a tribal people."

For those of you who may be wondering why someone of Cherokee descent would celebrate Thanksgiving, that is why I do. Anyway, I know many of you are expecting pinups, so here they are.

First up is Raquel Torres who is cuddling a turkey.

 

Next up is Peggy Diggins, who is also cuddling a turkey. 

 

 Next is Judy Garland, who is making friends with a turkey.

 

Joan Leslie also seems to have made friends with a turkey.

I think it is safe to say Virginia Gibson does not plan to friends with the turkey!

 

And last but not least, Ann Miller is serving turkey!

 

Happy Thanksgiving!