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As millions of people get ready to feast on turkey, mashed potatoes, yams and stuffing, there are those in Native America who could care less. In fact, some Native people view the holiday as a reminder of the start of colonization. In this program, we’ll talk to Native people about why they say “no thanks” to Thanksgiving.
Guests:
Annawon Weeden (enrolled Mashpee Wampanoag) – eastern woodland instructor for the Mashantucket Pequot Tribal Nation Cultural Resources Department
Steven Newcomb (Shawnee and Lenape) – co-founder and co-director of the Indigenous Law Institute and the author of “Pagans in the Promised Land: Decoding the Doctrine of Christian Discovery”
Tiokasin Ghosthorse (Cheyenne River Lakota) – radio host First Voices Indigenous Radio
Jessie Little Doe Baird (Mashpee) – vice chairwoman of the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe and co-founder of the Wôpanâak Language Reclamation Project
Break Music: Enaemaekisaeh (song) Wayne Silas Jr (artist) Infinite Passion (album)
I’d say colonialism started well before we got around the same dinner table with the settlers. The invasion was the start of colonialism. When the invaders came ashore their minds were on conquest not merely a visit with new found friends. If we say no to Thanksgiving practices, does no to Christmas soon follow?
Yep.! More truths will soon be revealed. The Ghost Dance vision of Wovoka included mention that the Christian messiah would return along with the relatives who were so brutally annihilated. And startling “medicine” surrounding Wounded Knee will soon be unveiled! We are wise to observe Mother Earth’s four true holy days ‘holidays’. The Solstices and Equinoxes.