Rethinking Thanksgiving

The traditional story of Thanksgiving that most of us learned growing up, and is still reinforced today, is a myth.

For many of us, Thanksgiving is a complicated holiday. It can be a joyful time when we gather and share a beautiful meal with our loved ones. But it is also a reminder of our country’s tradition of violence against Indigenous people.

The Wamponoag tribe did share their resources and knowledge of the land to struggling English Pilgrims at Patuxet—the Wampanoag name for their land in southeastern Massachusetts—but they did so not out of benevolence, but out of diplomatic necessity. When the English Pilgrims successfully reaped their first harvest as a result of the Wampanoags’ help, they celebrated with a feast, but the Wampanoag people who were so instrumental in their success weren’t even invited. It wasn’t until the English fired their muskets in celebration that the Wampanoags showed up at the feast to offer aid, afraid the English were under attack.

Ultimately, the Wamponoag’s help came at a devastating cost to them. In the years that followed the 1621 harvest feast we now call “the first Thanksgiving,” European settlers— including the English Pilgrims—subjected the Wampanoag people to forced assimilation, family separation, enslavement, and genocide. In the face of all this, Wampanoag people have resisted. Today, they continue to fight for their sovereignty, language, ways of life, and connections to their ancestral homelands.

Instead of celebrating Thanksgiving, many Indigenous people across the country recognize it as a Day of Mourning. We can choose to mark Thanksgiving differently by expanding our observance to hold both the abundance and connection in our lives, and the reality of past and present violence against Indigenous people. This can be an act of solidarity with Indigenous people who are calling us to be in better relationship with each other and the lands we live on.

Here are some actions you can take while reckoning with Thanksgiving:

Learn and share the whole Thanksgiving story with your family and friends

Learn about the land you live and celebrate on

Kensington and all of the East Bay is located in Huchiun, the ancestral and current tribal homelands of the Lisjan Nation people. If you are celebrating Thanksgiving elsewhere, visit native-land.ca to learn about the Indigenous people of that place. Research the land, both its past and present. Let questions of how we can live in better reciprocity with the land and each other guide your inquiry.

Know your family’s history

Adapted from the Rethinking Thanksgiving Toolkit by the Indigenous Solidarity Network.

If we have European roots, our family’s history includes joining the U.S. settler state and benefiting from the displacement and genocide of Indigenous people. If our families came to this land fleeing oppression, we nonetheless became agents and/or beneficiaries of genocide. To change this reality, we need to grapple with difficult questions like: Whose lands did our people settle? How did we benefit at the expense of Indigenous people?

Give Shuumi, a voluntary land tax

Shuumi is a voluntary payment that non-Indigenous people living on Lisjan Nation land can make to support the critical work of the Sogorea Te’ Land Trust. Shuumi means “gift” in Chochenyo, the Lisjan Nation language. Both individuals and institutions can pay Shuumi. Shuumi is a small step toward acknowledging the history of genocide on this land and contributing to its healing. It is just one of many ways that non-Native people can be in solidarity with Lisjan Nation people. To pay Shuumi, visit Sogorea Te’ Land Trust’s website.

Listen to Indigenous People

Attend the virtual “Rethinking Thanksgiving” on Sun. 11/17 at 4.30 pm. This webinar aims to celebrate the victories of Indigenous Peoples, while confronting the ongoing impact of genocide and ecocide tied to settler colonialism and the military-industrial complex from Turtle Island to Palestine. Learn more and register.

Attend an event in solidarity with Indigenous people

  • Thangs Taken: Rethinking Thanksgiving. Sun. 11/24, 6pm - 9pm (in person and virtual). Join La Peña Cultural Center for their annual event that challenges and reshapes the colonial “thanksgiving” narrative by celebrating native resistance through art, music, dance, ancestral knowledge, and oral storytelling. Tickets are sliding scale and all proceeds go to indigenous organizers, cultural workers, and landback campaigns. Tickets & more info.

  • IITC’s Annual Indigenous People’s Thanksgiving Sunrise Gathering, Alcatraz Island. Thurs. 11/28, 4am - 9am. All are welcome to join us to honor our ancestors and give thanks for the survival of our Nations, cultures and ways of life. Advance tickets here.

  • Shellmound 2 Shellmound. West Berkeley Shellmound to Emeryville Shellmound, Fri.11/29, 10am. Join a 3-mile prayer walk to protect sacred sites. More info.