It is around
this time of year that Native Americans are brought up in conversation. You may
have recently colored in the stereotypical Native American on a worksheet with a
feather popping out of this head and a braid rolling down his shoulder, or you
may remember acting in a Pilgrims and Indians play. But how do Native Americans
really feel about Thanksgiving? What has their role been throughout history and
what are their perceptions on Thanksgiving today?
In Plymouth,
Massachusetts in 1621, the Pilgrims and the Wampanoag Indians had a rather
amiable feast where both parties brought food to the table.
However soon
after the feast, there was much hostility between the native people and colonists.
In 1637, Massachusetts’s soldiers killed 700 Pequot Indians in Mystic,
Connecticut. In 1676, after the unsuccessful uprising of King Philip’s War,
native people were killed and enslaved.
To remember
these hardships, a group of Native Americans and others get together on Cole’s
Hill in Plymouth, Massachusetts at noon on Thanksgiving. While one side of the
town celebrates the day with a large parade, the United American Indians of New
England participate in a “Day of Mourning."
On the west coast,
others participate in “Un-Thanksgiving Day.” Both of these counter-holidays
resulted from the slew of Native American Civil Rights protests in the 1970s.
Among them were “Occupation of Alcatraz” where the “Indians of All Tribes”
occupied Alcatraz for 14 months. Others included the burial of Plymouth rock
and the seizure of the the Mayflower 2 replica.
The purpose of a
“Day of Mourning” and “Un-Thanksgiving Day” is to remember the losses and
advocate for reform.
In his book “Thanksgiving:
The Biography of An American Holiday,” James W. Baker says that although the
history of the native people is “damning without exaggeration,” it should not
be associated with Thanksgiving. The Thanksgiving feast was a moment in time
when two different cultures could peacefully come together for a meal. The
suffering of the native people should be taught, but as a separate memorial day.
Chief Kevin
Brown from the local Pamunkey Tribe (an hour northwest of Williamsburg) agrees
that Thanksgiving should be a joyous day.
“One thing that
we haven’t held onto is hatred. Only a minority of Native Americans partake in
‘Un-Thanksgiving.’ I celebrate Thanksgiving. It is a time to get together with
family and eat lots of food,” Brown said.
However, Ashley
Atkins (’15) a PhD candidate in the department of
anthropology and the director of the Pamunkey Indian Museum and Cultural
Center (http://www.pamunkey.net/museum.html ) suggests that certain
misconceptions should be changed.
According to a Penn
State study,
87% of American Indian references in schools refer to Native Americans in a
pre-1900s context.
“If
people do know Indians still exist they believe we are stuck in the past, and if
we don't look like our ancestors did 100+ years ago then they don't consider us
to be ‘real’ or ‘authentic’ Indians,” Atkins said. “But I would like people to
know that none of that is true. We are still here; we live in the modern world
like everyone else, but we have a deep honor and respect for our history,
ancestors and continuing traditions. I want people to understand that we, as a
people, are relevant beyond the American holiday of Thanksgiving.”
Professor Andrew
Fisher explains how Jean O’Brien’s “firsting and lasting” theory could
contribute to the American misconception that Native Americans no longer exist.
“Anglo Americans
assert their rights to inherent this land by process of ‘firsting’ which says
things like the ‘first settlement’ or the ‘first thanksgiving’ and lasting like
the ‘last Indian chief,’ or ‘the last pow wow.’ It is all a way of discursively
erasing native people from the landscape,” Prof. Fisher said.
To remind The
Commonwealth of Virginia that Native Americans are still here, the Pamunkey
tribe delivers a deer offering to the governor’s door around the time of
Thanksgiving.
“It
is our way of saying we are keeping our side of the treaty and we hope that you
keep yours,” Chief Brown said referring to the 337-year-old peace treaty between
the British crown and Native American leaders to ensure certain rights such as
specific tax exemptions to the native people.
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| The Pamunkey deer offering in the 1930s-40s |
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