Thanksgiving

Sorry to rain on your Thanksgiving Day Parade, but today’s holiday myth covers up lots of tragic history. Europeans were in contact with northern Atlantic Coast Native Americans long before that English religious cult landed in Massachusetts, and indigenous people paid a heavy price for it. There were earlier meetings between native peoples and French and Basque fishermen and whalers, and Giovanni da Verrazzano documented contacts with native peoples in the Carolinas, New York Bay, and Narragansett Bay in 1544. John Smith met the Powhatans in 1608. Henry Hudson met Mohican people in 1609. The Spanish were as deadly to the indigenous nations of Florida as they had been in the Southwest and Southern Hemisphere.

Six years before the Mayflower, in 1614, Captain Thomas Hunt visited Massachusetts, where he abducted two dozen Wampanoag people from Patuxet and brought them to Spain for sale as slaves. One of them learned English and worked in Newfound as a translator in 1616, and on the New England Coast, which had been depopulated due to diseases brought by Europeans, in 1619. The man, Tisquantum, called Squanto by the English, remained, and was there when the so-called Pilgrims arrived in 1620. He helped the newcomers establish a mutual defense pact with the remaining Wampanoag people, as they and the English were threatened by the much larger Narraganset nation. They had a meal during their meeting, the mythic basis for today’s gluttonous orgy of stuffed turkey, candied yams, and pumkin pie.

Fifty years later, the good Christian people of Plimouth Colony attacked their native allies, killed their chieftain, and displayed his severed head on a pole in their settlement. They celebrated that event on June 29, 1676 with (you guessed it) a feast of thanksgiving.

More:

“Before Plymouth Colony and the Pilgrims, There Was Patuxet,” Virginia Williams, Atlas Obscura

“The rise of Thankstaking,” Russell Contreras, Axios

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Indigenous Peoples’ Day

October 10, 2022 is Indigenous Peoples’ Day in the United States. For most Americans, anyway. Some people haven’t discovered it yet.

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Standing Rock

“Mni Wiconi: The Standing at Standing Rock,” a short film by Lucian Read about the Native American people of the Standing Rock  community who oppose the Dakota Access Pipeline project. “Mni Wiconi” means “Water is Life” in the Sioux language.

This week, some people are choosing to join them for the Thanksgiving holiday.

Updates:

“Medics Describe How Police Sprayed Standing Rock Demonstrators With Tear Gas and Water Cannons,” Alleen Brown, The Intercept

“Police defend use of water cannons on Dakota Access protesters in freezing weather,” Derek Hawkins, Washington Post

“Trump owns stock in Dakota Access parent company,” Harper Neidig, The Hill
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Happy Native Americans’ Day

On October 10, 2016, the Federal Office of Management and Budget observes the invasion of the Americas by Christophorus Columbus (aka Christoffa Corombo, Cristoforo Colombo, Cristóvão Colombo, Christovam Colom, and Cristóbal Colón), a Genoese private contractor working for the government of Castile. Federal employees (and the mailman) have Monday off. Even at the Bureau of Indian Affairs.

Of course, senators and congressmen have every Monday off. Every Friday, too.

God Bless America.

Note: Monday, October 10, 2016 is Native American Day in South Dakota. That’s when Minneapolis, Portland and Seattle celebrate Indigenous People’s Day.

Happy Native Americans’ Day

On October 12, 2015, the Federal Office of Management and Budget observes the invasion of the Americas by Christophorus Columbus (aka Christoffa Corombo, Cristoforo Colombo, Cristóvão Colombo, Christovam Colom, and Cristóbal Colón), a Genoese private contractor working for the government of Castile. Federal employees have Monday off. Even at the Bureau of Indian Affairs.

Of course, senators and congressmen have every Monday off. Every Friday, too.

God Bless America.

Note: Monday, October 12, 2015 is Native American Day in South Dakota. That’s when Minneapolis, Portland and Seattle celebrate Indigenous People’s Day.

Witchi Tia To

“Witchi Tia To,”  written by Jim Pepper (1941– 1992), inspired by a Native American Church peyote song he learned from his grandfather. Performed here by Jim Pepper (lead vocals, chant, tenor saxophone), Kenny Werner (piano), John Scofield (guitar), Hamid Drake (drums), Lester McFarland (electric bass), Naná Vasconcelos (chant, percussion). Recorded in 1983.

Jim Pepper also recorded versions of this song in 1969 and 1971.It has been recorded by many rock, pop, and jazz artists.

Related:

Jim Pepper Native Arts Festival @ Facebook

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October Holiday

Today, October 13, 2014, the Federal Office of Management and Budget observes the invasion of the Americas by Christophorus Columbus (aka Christoffa Corombo, Cristoforo Colombo, Cristóvão Colombo, Christovam Colom, and Cristóbal Colón), a Genoese private contractor working for the government of Castille.  Federal employees have Monday off. Even at the Bureau of Indian Affairs.

Of course, senators and congressmen have every Monday off. Every Friday, too.

God Bless America.

Note: Monday, October 13, 2014 is Indigenous Peoples Day in cities from Seattle to Skowhegan. In Minneapolis, too. It’s Native American Day in South Dakota and Explorers Day in Hawaii.

Oneida Nation Takes on the DC R-Word

The Oneida Indian Nation has kicked off a campaign to pressure Washington’s pro football team into changing its name. “Using a slur and making a mascot out of our indigenous culture has no place in such a society,” says Oneida Nation Representative Ray Halbritter. “We believe that with the help of our fellow professional football fans, we can get the NFL to realize the error of its ways and make a very simple change.”

When DC’s NFL team opens its season against the Eagles at home this Monday, a “Change the Mascot” radio spot will run on  all-news WTOP and sports-talk WJFK. When the team goes on the road, so will the radio campaign to end use of this trademarked racial slur.

Billionaire team owner Dan Snyder claims Native Americans don’t see the name as derogatory, but the Oneidas see otherwise. Judging by coverage of this issue in Indian Country Today, they are not alone.

North Dakota Racism Referendum

In a referendum yesterday, North Dakotans voted to retire their state university’s “Fighting Sioux” nickname and symbols. We cannot confirm the rumor that University of North Dakota teams will henceforth be called the “Fighting Space Aliens” (above: new team logo?).

The North Dakota state legislature had passed a law directing UND to use the “Fighting Sioux” nickname and logo in perpetuity even though many constituents feel the practice is racist. “Sioux” is derived from an Ojibwe term for the Lakota people, many of whom live in the state, and is often regarded as an insult. The NCAA considers racial and ethnic logos and mascots “hostile and abusive” and sanctions teams for their use, and UND is one of the last holdouts. Perhaps this referendum will convince the National Football League to change the name and logo of the “Washington Ethnic Slurs.”

North Dakota ballot measure results here.

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Columbus Day Cuisine

On October 10, 2011, the Federal Office of Management and Budget observes the invasion of the Americas by Christophorus Columbus (aka Christoffa Corombo, Cristoforo Colombo, Cristóvão Colombo, Christovam Colom, and Cristóbal Colón), a Genoese private contractor working for the government of Castille. Federal employees have Monday off, even at the Bureau of Indian Affairs.

To celebrate at home, discover America’s food with a Decolonizing Diet dinner party. Serve only pre-contact foods: corn, beans, squash, game meats, fruit, fish, peppers and more  — but no wheat, sugar, pork, beef, dairy, processed foods, and so on. Dr. Martin Reinhardt at Northern Michigan University and a crew of twenty-five will be chowing down on indigenous grub for a year. Next month, like-minded folks elsewhere will try eating that way for a week. Dr. Devon Mihesuah (University of Kansas) has some suggested recipes here.

Note: Monday, Oct. 10, 2010 is Native American Day in South Dakota.

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Image (“First Invasion of The Americas by Christopher Columbus, after Dioscoro Teofilo de la Puebla Tolin”) by Mike Licht. Download a copy here. Creative Commons license; credit Mike Licht, NotionsCapital.com

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