Forget about The Godfather marathon or the Twitter poll asking you if you’re eating pie right now. If you’re inclined, think about the emptiness of this bare-bones Ub Iwerks Spooks turkey, a skeletal shadow of abundance and nourishment.
Then consider the absence of what came before the Pilgrims and Wampanoag broke bread at Plymouth during the first Thanksgiving feast in 1621: the death of over 700 men, women and children from the New England-based tribe, the theft of their land, genocide, betrayal. This ongoing narrative of whitewashed myths hides the socio-economic disparities still faced by today’s Native Americans.
So if you’re inclined, observe the National Day of Mourning, an annual event now in its 46th year where Native Americans and their allies gather on Cole’s Hill in Plymouth to commemorate this day of remembrance. “Every other day of the year, in this society we’re not even a presence. We’re relegated to being an asterik or not even counted our being a joke, like a sports team mascot,” says Mahtowin Munro, co-leader of the United American Indians of New England. “It’s really a day for non-Native people to listen.”
Comments on this entry are closed.