Oakland Tribune
Blessings counted by Native Americans, despite misgivings
Many remember horror stories
By Julissa McKinnon STAFF WRITER
Thursday, November 28, 2002 - As many schoolchildren around the Bay Area impersonate Pilgrims and talking turkeys, some Native Americans can't recall the first legendary Plymouth encounter without also remembering the horror stories of the past 500 years.
Eighth-grade teacher Barbara Potter at Archway School in Oakland sets time aside every year to share the less-often-heard side of the Thanksgiving story.
On the one holiday when mainstream America reflects on relations between white settlers and native inhabitants, there is no mention of the violence, disease, smallpox, boarding schools or any struggle, she said. Instead, there are idyllic scenes of Pilgrim-Indian harmony emblazoned on greeting cards, cartoons, coloring books, house decorations and dish towels.
Potter says she tries to balance out the myth with a grain of truth.
On Tuesday, Potter gave her eighth-grade class a history lesson about the origin of the word "thanksgiving." With 13 pairs of eyes fixed on her, Potter opened the National Geographic book titled "1621: A New Look at Thanksgiving," and relayed the following:
In July 1637, 16 years after the Pilgrims shared a feast with members of the Wampanoag tribe, Captain John Mason ordered the burning of the Pequot fort, killing 700 men, women and children. The survivors were then sold into slavery. Mason then declared a day of "thanksgiving to God for subduing the Pequots," Potter read.
When she opened the floor for class comments, a few students asked why they had never before been taught about the origin of the word "thanksgiving."
Grace Anderson, 14, sat back with crossed arms as she shared her soft-spoken response:
"I think it's really awful what happened to the people when the Europeans came," she said. "But it's almost more awful how it's still being covered up, and most kids don't know the real story."
Potter knows the story may shock and disturb some students. But she says the history lesson also teaches her kids to question everything they are told and to check sources.
But the irony of "Thanksgiving" for some native people is that in indigenous culture, thanksgiving is every day, said Bill "Jimbo" Simmons, an organizer of the 26-year-old Thanksgiving sunrise ceremony on Alcatraz Island. But all of America joins them in this ritual now, said Simmons, of the Choctaw tribe, who now lives in San Francisco.
But while the Alcatraz gathering is a thanking to the creator for air, water, plants, animals and all life, the event also takes stock of everything native people have to be unthankful for.
"All the promises the government gave to us, they broke from Day 1. We're thankful every day, so what makes this day different is America calls it Thanksgiving," he said. "After what was done to our people and other people in the world, they use this day to say it's a holy day. But we are here to remember what we have to be unthankful about -- the hundreds of thousands of acres of land that were stolen, the economic and social conditions faced on reservations."
But by no means is there a Native American consensus on how to interpret Thanksgiving -- responses are as diverse as the tribes, traditions and languages found throughout native America.
"The Pilgrims came here because of religious persecution, and I see myself all these centuries later benefiting from the coming of Christianity to America," she said. "I don't approve of the methods used by missionaries of various religions, but being Christian has made a difference in my life."
Others such as Larry Swimmer, a Lakota father of eight who lives in Hayward, see Thanksgiving as an opportunity to feast, drum, sing, and most importantly laugh with family and friends. And Swimmer said that although the story told on Thanksgiving is mythical, it holds a worthwhile message.
"In the mythical celebration of sharing the bounty with Pilgrims, we recognize they were guests in our land, and from a spiritual standpoint sharing and helping each other is something we should always aspire to do," he said.
"We are here for a short time, and we should learn to enjoy to appreciate each other as human beings, not because we're white or native but for the specific unique qualities each human being has. It's the protocol for respect."