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writingwithcolor · 1 year

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Thanksgiving/Day of Mourning

Last year, I made a very quick, basic post about thanksgiving: Indigenous Day of Mourning aka Thanksgiving. if you want the sources for what I’m about to say, check there.

This post will be about why you cannot just go “fuck the pilgrims, we deserve a harvest festival no matter the origin” or anything else that tries to sanitize the holiday.

You Are Still On Stolen Land

As a result, you are still actively profiting off the genocide the pilgrims committed.

I don’t care how educated about racial issues you profess you are. I don’t care how you behave the other 364 days of the year. If you try to distance yourself from the origins of Thanksgiving simply because it makes you uncomfortable to see the blood under the tablecloth, you’re not practised in sitting with actually being anti-racist. You know what to say, but you don’t practice what you preach.

You Are Eating Our Food

Pumpkins/squash, beans, turkey, cranberries, potatoes, corn, sweet potatoes, pecans, maple syrup?

Those are all Native American foods that we taught you how to grow and harvest.

You wouldn’t have any of your traditional Thanksgiving foods without us. The ideal meal of Thanksgiving is ripped right from Indigenous practices and cannot be separated from it.

The fact that these foods have been taken out of Indigenous hands and appropriated by colonizers as the bounties they somehow deserve for landing here is a tragedy, and people need to remember where their food comes from and who had been growing it for thousands of years.

You Had So Much Because Of Massacre

Thanksgiving became an annual tradition after 700 Pequot men, women, children, and elders were killed, freeing up acres of land that colonizers promptly took over. The sheer amount of extra acreage that colonizers had because of their genocide contributed to the excess of food experienced during Thanksgiving. That land had been structured to support more people originally.

Colonizers had never, ever, deserved that much food. They were taking more than they needed, not leaving much behind for the animals that depended on a balance to be held with humans. They took far more than was needed, throwing the balance off in nature.

Maybe I’m reaching. But I think that if you suddenly had 700 less people in the area, after all of the growing and planting for the total population had been done, you’d have excess food? Or even before the growing, you’d have land set up to support 700, that I’d assume you’d still use, when you were a much smaller population?

Sit With Your Own Grief

If this makes you feel bad and that you shouldn’t celebrate Thanksgiving? Sit with that.

I’m not telling you that you have to give up Thanksgiving traditions. I’m telling you that you cannot divorce them from Indigenous people.

You are giving thanks for our massacre. You are giving thanks for stealing so much from us that you had this excess.

Yes, you can need a break; yes, you can need time with family and friends. None of this is inherently bad.

It’s not even bad to eat local food from Turtle Island! Part of having a sustainable diet is eating locally, in time with the seasons.

But remember, it is Indigenous people who first gave this to you—and then you stole far more than you ever needed from us, killing us to get what you felt you deserved.

Do not divorce Thanksgiving from Indigenous people for your own comfort.

We are still here. We must live with the aftermath of colonizers stealing from us every single day.

If you feel this way hearing about our history, imagine what we feel like living it.

Donate to a local org/Indigenous person this Thanksgiving

I (again) don’t have the spoons to compile a list of vetted charities, but look for local tribe language revival programs, COVID relief funds, and activism around the Indian Child Welfare Act currently in front of the Supreme Court.

Pay reparations for what you have taken, and remember. It is also Indigenous Day of Mourning.

Indigenous people, drop your links below.

~Lesya

#thanksgiving #native american #Holidays #ally #Indigenous day of mourning #genocide #cultural appropriation

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daffodilhorizon · 5 months

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Hope all your food is burnt and you get in a fight with your relatives, it's literally nothing compared to the centuries of indigenous genocide you're whitewashing right now :)

#land back #indigenous day of mourning #free palestine

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fandomshatepeopleofcolor · 1 year

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Schools doing redface for Thanksgiving is so common it’s so disturbing. I remember once refusing to wear a paper headdress or pilgrim hat (my mom is a historian who taught me about the real history of the pilgrims and the Wampanoags so I knew that everything about it was historically inaccurate and racist) and getting in really big trouble for it despite explaining myself thoroughly and the teachers KNOWING who my mom was. The rampant and blatant racism against indigenous people in schools really needs to be talked about more.

Hey thanks for this Nonny! Yeah like we can't say we want a revolution and be anti racist without addressing the white supremacy that's rampant in public schools.

mod ali

#thanksgiving #indigenous day of mourning #redface #addams family values #wampanoags #genocide #white supremacy

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thehealingsystem · 5 months

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hey this thanksgiving I ask people to please please please please don't forget about indigenous americans. celebrate all you want, eat turkey, spend time with family, idc, but please do so in respect to the actual meaning behind the holiday and the atrocities committed against natives. your day of thankfulness for all that you have, the things you only have because of colonialism, is a day of mourning for us

#ik people post about this every thanksgiving but I haven't been seeing it a lot so just wanted to remind people #thanksgiving #national day of mourning #indigenous #native american #first nations

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bfpnola · 5 months

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the org said they were reposting last year’s graphics, hence the change is date at the top. still extremely relevant!

#resources #bipoc #indigenous #native american #american indian #national day of mourning #thanksgiving #undescribed #reaux speaks #history

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progressivemillennial · 5 months

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Happy Thanksgiving to all who celebrate! May this be a time of gratitude, joy, and love for you and yours.

I would also suggest making this a time to acknowledge the National Day of Mourning by honoring, remembering, and learning about the death and suffering of indigenous Americans due to settler colonialism and its present-day effects.

Again, I hope everyone has much to be thankful for in these holiday times. I also hope these times can serve as an opportunity to take a clear-eyed look at American history and challenge the myths that serve as the foundation for many Amercians' understanding of our past and present.

#thanksgiving #happy thanksgiving #history #genocide #ethnic cleansing #american indians #native americans #politics #us politics #progressive #imperialism #narional day of mourning #colonialism #settler colonialism #indigenous history #thanksgiving myths #first nations

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spaceysoupy · 1 year

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Yearly “don’t fucking wish me or any other Indigenous person you do not know a happy thanksgiving” post

#indigenous #thanksgiving #national day of mourning

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houseofpurplestars · 5 months

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My partner and I held a vigil tonight for some of Florida's missing Indigenous women. We drew their portraits based on their missing persons photos.

#mmiw #missing and murdered indigenous women #thanksgiving #art #day of mourning

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izzy-el-lucerito · 1 year

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Singing for our ancestors, so that they may find their way home.

#National Day of Mourning #native american heritage month #chicanx #chicano #trans #new mexico #ai #two spirit #queer community #queer pride #gay pride #trans pride #desert #bright colors #native american #indigenous

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captainpirateface · 1 year

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Just a reminder as to what Thanksgiving is..

I am not Native.

But I do have Native friends. And I respect how this ridiculous holiday may affect them.

Enjoy your dry ass turkey.

Love and Respect,

#CaptainPirateFace

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bunbunbunni · 5 months

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🌀U want to give me (Cherokee) $5 so bad today you want to give all your indigenous friends regardless of blood quantum $5 today oooooh🌀

🌀🌀🌀you are so nice and loving and support indigenous creatives and friends ooooooohhh 🌀🌀🌀

#thanksgiving #national day of mourning #indigenous creator

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bfpnola · 5 months

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#resources #bipoc #undescribed #reaux speaks #indigenous #national day of mourning #native american #history #settler colonialism #genocide #thanksgiving #instagram

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disasterhimbo · 1 year

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If you are a white/non-native American or Canadian, please keep indigenous people in your thoughts today and support them however you’re able to, whether financially or otherwise. Don’t forget about the National Day of Mourning.

If you’re an indigenous American or Canadian, I know today must be hard. Most Americans celebrate today, but for you, it’s a somber event. You are not alone. Some of us care. I will do everything in my power to keep the Indian Child Welfare Act in place. Let me know what I can do to better support you if you want. Otherwise, just try to be gentle with yourself today and do some self-care. I’m here for you.

#american holidays #Canadian holidays #national day of mourning #thanksgiving #native people #indigenous people #first nations #my post #original post #wait I think this applies to Canadians too

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