Indigenous Thoughts on Thanksgiving - Annual Article

Morticia Batz
Nov 30, 2024
4 min read

Hey it's us! So to be honest it's our ritual to write these every year,. This year we are all kind of tired, but we won't stop educating. We are also a few days late as we always post it on Thanksgiving -- we joked its okay they''ll understand we can just say "Sorry, we are on NDN Time haha" These are meant for others to read and take in the thoughts of Native American & Indigenous peoples and their thoughts on this man-made holiday. I'll add my words later in the article for now you'll hear from Angie as usual.

We honour our ancestors.

Aho' it's Angie ya'll! Pic above is that face you get when everyone is telling you “Happy Thanksgiving” lol This year “Thanksgiving” was a bit similar than other years this year, but also different. This school year I am now in my Jr year of High school and I finally have a history teacher that makes me enjoy history and that encourages me to do well in the class. This or maybe last month I had a back to school night and my Mom came with me. When she met my history teacher she was saying all these good things and mentioned the fact that we are Indigenous. Which made my history teacher super excited! She had wanted me to work on an assignment that would educate my fellow students on the true meaning of “Thanksgiving”. (Which of course my mom was thrilled about), although this assignment didn’t go as planned I still have the opportunity to educate the other students. I am quite grateful for the fact that this year I finally have a history teacher who cares, understands and wants to educate other people about the true meaning of “Thanksgiving”,especially the fact that she wanted a Native to do it. It means alot to me and I know it means alot to my Mom that this year I was able to have that opportunity.

As for how this day went it was okay. I spent it with some family and friends and it was more “traditional” because cooking was out of our hands This year we weren’t able to make any Indigenous meals or beverages today but we will celebrate in our own way with our own ceremonies. Even tho we could not make our food and drinks today we still showed representation today by wearing Native made jewelry. Anyways this Saturday there is going to be a Pow Wow near me and my mom and I are going to go! Which is exciting! Hoping to get some good fry bread and jewelry.

I had a pic with this shirt in another article when I was 13, so it's crazy to show the difference in the same shirt haha.

From Amber

The forgotten. In a place like today's America remembering is something that they teach us is necessary. Remember where you came from, remember our history... But when it comes to our history remembrance is met with disbelief disregard and cynicism at best. People like to tell us to get over it. It was a long time ago! However, the genocide that we have suffered, the indignities, the brutality, the disregard... It is still going on today. Our genocide never stopped. From the shores of America to the cold tundra of Canada our kind has been preyed upon and persecuted. Treaties broken, missing women and children, bodies found under schools. This is what we've dealt with. One thing that hurts most about this time of year is the fact that although a good percentage of society knows they have been lied to about this holiday they instead decide to perpetuate this false narrative. I hear time and time again "oh, it's a time for family, I choose this time to be thankful for my life" . Meanwhile the reality is this is not a time to be thankful, not for us. It's a morbid reminder that we were stalked, converted, killed and made a mockery of. People's willful ignorance shows how far we still have to go to change history. We are still here though!!! We are human beings!! We, the caretakers of the land that was stolen from us, we the first citizens of this nation, we the forgotten ones. Forgotten history, forgotten truth. Remember! Listen! Open your eyes! Do not forget! We haven't... And we never will.

Sorry ya'll I was lazy to pick a better photo of me, we hella late and I want to publish this before 11pm. We spent the day at CSUN's Pow Wow. Anyways, so at the end of this, as I said from the beginning I would like to add some words and some of this is a mix of what I said last year and I'm okay with that, as I know every year we have new readers, and that's a vibe. We are here, and all of us have diverse perspectives and thoughts on this day. For many of us, we choose to honour our ancestors. Transgenerational trauma is real. Settler colonialism is not the past or something historical. Settler Colonialism is a structure, we live in these structures today. However, you celebrate "thanksgiving" we hope you can learn from us. I will be linking some resource reading in this for y'all to read if you decide to. I also urge you to check on who's land you're on. I currently am a visitor on the Tongva and Chumash lands. We urge you to click this link to see who's land you're on -- Who's land am

I on?

Some resources for learning & unlearning

Decolonization is not a metaphor

Beyond land acknowledgment and settler institutions

A vid to watch