“And, then the Pilgrims invited the Indigenous Americans to partake in the fruits of their harvest and they lived in peace from that moment on. The End. Wasn’t that lovely, children?” That’s the way I remember learning about Thanksgiving, way back in 1973. I believe headdresses made from construction paper feathers and misshapen cornucopias were involved. Yet, here we are, in a decidedly different America. No longer can we rely on textbooks and antiquated ideas. We’re woke now. 2020 did what all the others years have tried to do since we became a nation. Curtain pulled back. Wall down. Dirty secrets unearthed. Turns out, it’s time to purge our national soul. Turns out, it’s not all roses here in the USA. Don’t stop reading. I’m not here to sully your patriotism. I’m here to tell you that it’s always darkest before the dawn. I’m here to remind you that broken pieces are good. That is how the light gets in. I’m here to implore you to remember that true healing is never possible until you hit rock bottom. But first, about ‘dem Pilgrims.
In 1841, a guy from Boston wrote a book about Pilgrims that included a letter by an actual Pilgrim describing a 3 day meeting with Wampanoag Chief King Massasoit and 90 of his men. Now, in those days, the word Thanksgiving was used to describe almsgiving and periods of prayerful fasting. That term was never used by a Pilgrim, in regard to this event, until a young Boston publisher thought it sounded good. Truth be known, those Pilgrims were probably thankful they weren’t slaughtered in that 3 day period, seeing as how they raided the Wampanoag graves the year before. They were starving, after all, and that burial ground included mounds of sacrificial corn. In a macabre catch 22, that corn was only around those graves because the prior group of settlers, Pilgrim scouts if you will, wiped out the majority of the Wampanoag Indians with the introduction of never before seen diseases, hence lots of graves and corn. So, the Native Americans were depleted in health and numbers. That’s probably the only reason they opted to trade with us instead of killing us. They were sick and tired of us already, literally. But, the realization that our Pilgrim ancestors were really British pawns used to incite a bloody coup and strip an indigenous group of people of their lands, livelihood, and lives shouldn’t shock anyone. It is a global occurrence. Ask the Aboriginal people of Australia. Ask the Adivasi in India. Ask the Miao and the Hmong in China.
When you think about it, what is happening in our country right now is identical to what has happened in many families over the decades. We existed for generation upon generation, believing that soiled laundry wasn’t to be aired. The perfect front must be believed. Smile, nod, lie. Any dirty sin can be covered up with enough mulch. The roses we plant on the surface will make it all ok. The perfect family cannot have a single blemish. There can be no disease, no addiction, no infidelity, no abuse, no incarceration. A mirage may look beautiful, but it cannot produce water. Bad things exist in humanity. There is racism, ageism, gender inequality, social oppression, religious persecution….and too many others to count. Yet, we lived in this country with a purposeful blind eye for too long. Slavery? Well, that was a long time ago. Would you like more mashed potatoes? Women as property? Yeah, I don’t know anything about that, but look at this apple pie. 2020 showed up to the party and pulled the power plug on our lives. It is dark.
Whether you’re hunkering down alone this Thanksgiving or braving the winds of Covid like a Wampanoag chief, know this is a special year. History books will dedicate an entire chapter to 2020. We have a say in how that chapter will read. Will it be another gloss over reality pass the biscuits editorial, or will it be something more therapeutic? What if it said, simply, “We suck. We hurt people. We marginalize people. We kill people. We’re hideous. We cheat and we lie and we hide things on purpose. We ruin it all. But, we realize there is good and evil in each soul. When we say one nation under God, by golly, we mean it. And, we are here before you now so that you can see how we changed. It was ugly, but at our core, we are still a ragtag group of pioneers who refused to play pawn to another country. In 2020, we decided to refuse to play pawn to ourselves. This was the year we said, ‘Enough.’ This was the year we embraced our gorgeous differences, aired all the disgusting laundry, said the things we dared not say, and got busy with the business of living in a country that included a voice for all.” That’s giving thanks.
No construction paper was harmed in the writing of this article. Sources include, but are not limited to: National Geographic’s “The History of Thanksgiving,” Britannica.com, Grant-Craft’s “Marginalization of Indigenous Peoples,” & me yelling things at Siri.
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