As someone who is part Cherokee, I recognize the fact that many Native Americans find the holiday of Thanksgiving objectionable. After all, the Wampanoag, who legend has it dined with the Pilgrims, suffered greatly for their contact with the British colonists. There are then those Native Americans who view Thanksgiving as a celebration of the genocide of Native Americans at the hands of European settlers and observe it as a day of mourning. As I see it, the problem with Thanksgiving is that its mythology has traditionally been tied to that of the Thanksgiving celebrated by the Pilgrims in Plymouth, Massachusetts. That mythology is false on many levels, the least of which is the fact that the Thanksgiving celebrated by the Pilgrims was not the first Thanksgiving celebration in North America by a long shot. Indeed, various Native American tribes had their own Thanksgivings. The Seneca have Thanksgiving rituals that last four days.
For me then, the answer is not to do away with the holiday of Thanksgiving, but to divorce it from the imagery of the Pilgrims. We should stop celebrating the Pilgrims, who ultimately brought grief to the Wampanoag. Ultimately, my point of view on the holiday is best expressed by Wilma Mankiller, the first woman to serve as Principal Chief of the Cherokee Nation, who said of the holiday, "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." I think it is important to set aside a day to express gratitude. We just have to make sure that we are not celebrating genocide when we do so.
Keeping this in mind, I will observe Thanksgiving with the usual vintage Hollywood pictures I usually do on
A Shroud of Thoughts.
First up is Jeanne Craine, who has a large pie ready.
Next Marie McDonald, who is hunting and gathering for her Thanksgiving dinner.
Next is Olga San Juan with a pet turkey.
And here's Leila Hyams, who also has a turkey friend.
On the other hand, Shirley Temple seems startled by a turkey.
And, last but not least, here's Ann Miler and her turkey.
Happy Thanksgiving!
No comments:
Post a Comment