Thanksgiving is a time for expressing gratitude and spending time with loved ones and family. For many college students, this is a break from classes and time to visit home or relieve stress. However, it is important while we celebrate this holiday to remember its origins and respect indigenous communities.

Many of us learned a simple story about Thanksgiving. Pilgrims and Native Americans came together for an amazing feast as Native Americans helped pilgrims have a successful harvest. The story is of friendly two friendly parties who live in harmony. However, the truth behind Thanksgiving may not be so happy.

In reality, the true story of Thanksgiving is much less harmonious and contains a lot more tension, conflict, violence, and oppression. It is true that the tribe living in Plymouth, the Wampanoags, reached out to settlers to form an alliance. However, this decision was not some kind, welcoming gesture to their friendly new neighbors. This happened after their tribe had been ravaged by diseases brought from the settlers and they created this alliance as a way to protect themselves from rival tribes. Throughout their 50 year alliance, the Wampanoags were devastated by disease, colonial expansion into the areas they considered sacred and their home, and colonial exploitation of their resources. Their alliance did not have a happy ending as their relationship eventually deteriorated resulting in the King Phillip’s War.

The current story we hear about Thanksgiving is whitewashed to preserve the notion that colonists were good people who discovered America and treated Native Americans well. It furthers the idea of Manifest Destiny, that America belonged to the colonists and that Native Americans were happy to just give the land to the colonists. Thanksgiving romanticizes the relationship between Native Americans and colonists, but for many Native Americans when they remember this event they are reminded of the pain and genocide of their people.

Myth vs reality

While we can never reverse the awful actions of colonists and take back all the pain Native Americans had to endure, the least we can do is be honest about what really happened in history and tell the truth about past wrongdoings that laid the foundation for our country. One way you can help is to educate yourself about the true history of America and point out common myths spread about our past. If you are interested in this check out the book An Indigenous People’s History of the United States by Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz. This book is available at Penn State’s library as an audio or ebook.

There are also other ways to support indigenous people.

1. The Association on American Indian Affairs (AAIA) is an organization that has been fighting to preserve the sovereignty, culture, and rights of indigenous people since 1922. They have been successful in helping gain support for legislation including the Indian Child Welfare Act and the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act.
2. The American Indian College Fund is another organization that accepts donations. This organization provides scholarships to indigenous students and supports tribal colleges and universities.

This Thanksgiving, enjoy your break from school, spend time with your loved ones, express gratitude, but remember the significance of this holiday for indigenous people and respect that. Let’s end the myth of Thanksgiving and support indigenous people.