Many Americans, myself included, spent their childhood dressing as pilgrims and Indians at their school's annual Thanksgiving show. But for Native Americans, celebrating Thanksgiving means coming to terms with the decimation of their people, and the beginning of a history of abuse and discrimination.
Cut Video, which is perhaps best known for its 100 Years of Beauty series, sat down with a group of Native American people to play a little word association. When the word "Thanksgiving" came up, the responses were brutal: "lies," "sadness," "inaccurate," "colonization," "horror beyond measure." Some people said that they celebrate for what the modern holiday means now: giving thanks for what you have, while eating turkey and watching football. But lingering in the background is what it really represents to them: the pilgrims' abuse of Native Americans.
"Thanksgiving is a time when my family gets together to tell stories about our creation myths, and who we were, and who we are, and really what we lost," one woman said. "I don't know what the first Thanksgiving was, but I highly doubt it was a group of happy pilgrims and a group of happy Indians cooking turkey together," a man added. Thanksgiving is often seen as a "national day of mourning" for Native Americans, who want to educate the country about the centuries of abuse their community has received.
The group also reacted to the name Christopher Columbus, and the response around Columbus Day was even worse. Some people teared up, calling him "evil" and unworthy of a national holiday. Though supporters say the day celebrates both Italian heritage and alliances between America and Europe, Native American groups argue it whitewashes the horrific way Columbus treated people when he arrived. And that sentiment is spreading; this year, several cities decided to celebrate Indigenous Peoples Day instead of Columbus Day.