Additional Rec. - “Thanksgiving: The National Day of Mourning” by Allen Salway (@lilnativeboy)
“Being a young, Native student in America during October to late-November is complete mental exhaustion. This time of year in particular, society continuously pushes us into oppressive climates where we are gaslighted through a series of holidays that either reimagine history, play on and exploit painful stereotypes, or both.”
“In 1637 the Pequot Massacre took place, when over 700 Native men, women and children were slaughtered in what's now known as Mystic, Connecticut. The following day, the governor declared a day of thanksgiving and held a feast to celebrate their victories in battle.”
“This holiday can be sugar-coated as much as people like to justify colonial violence, but note that it is a painful, annual reminder of our genocide and white supremacy — two of the very foundations of this country, alongside slavery. This day is viewed as the National Day of Mourning by several Native communities, which was started as a protest in 1970 — organized by the United American Indians of New England (UAINE) to honor our ancestors and highlight the struggles they endured then to modern times, as well as the acknowledgement of the racism and oppression experienced today.”
“To me, Thanksgiving is a reminder of our resistance as Indigenous People navigating this settler society that continuously tries to erase and destroy us, yet we are still here.”
Please read the full article, and at the end of the article, there are links you can click to support the work of Allen Salway and causes such as the Navajo Water Project.
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