The Backstory: Thanksgiving from another point of view

Many of us see Thanksgiving, most importantly, as a day to express gratitude. What’s amazing is how many Native Americans also celebrate gratitude on that day—even though for them, it’s also a national day of mourning. But they still believe every day is a day to give thanks. This is a peek into another perspective.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Okay, why would Thanksgiving be a national day of mourning
but also a day of giving thanks to some folks,
It's complicated. I'm Patty Steele understanding the Native American perspective.
That's next on the backstory. The backstory is back. We've
all just celebrated Thanksgiving, a day to celebrate gratitude. But

(00:24):
backstory listener Mark Chambers from mid Lothian and Virginia had
an idea for a follow up episode to our Thanksgiving story.
Thank you, Mark. For Native Americans, Thanksgiving is a day
to give thanks, but for many it's also considered a
national day of mourning. They mourn what was lost when
Europeans discovered I say that with air quotes their land

(00:47):
and these completely different cultures came together. It's a story
that's been romanticized over these four hundred years, and the
beginnings aren't really as romantic as we think. The Friday
following things, Thankiving, is Native American Heritage Day. So it's
really important to remember that North America and for that matter,
South America, weren't just vast empty land masses when Europeans arrived.

(01:11):
North America alone was home to somewhere between five and
ten million Native Americans hard to tell with so many
different tribes. By the way, the English settlers who arrived
in sixteen twenty weren't actually called pilgrims until the mid
eighteen hundreds, over two hundred years after their arrival here.
But by the time they did arrive, the presence of

(01:33):
Europeans was already having a disastrous effect on the Native
American population, introducing illnesses like smallpox to tribes they interacted with,
and it was really disastrous to the Native way of life.
Now here's the thing. The concept of land ownership just
wasn't part of their culture, and it was totally part

(01:54):
of European culture. So right there you kind of see
room for misunderstanding on both sides. Native Americans had tribal
hunting grounds, but that was not the same as land ownership.
Some of them were welcoming to the newcomers, believing that
they were simply allowing them to share the land, which
they believed made good political sense in dealing with these

(02:15):
new people. But the Europeans believed they were taking the
land either for nothing or just a pittance when it
came to the financial aspects. Can you imagine what it
must feel like to have two completely different perspectives about
something so important to how you and your people live
your life. It continues today. A lot of Native Americans

(02:36):
see Thanksgiving as a painful reminder of the colonization and
displacement that followed the arrival of Europeans, and a lot
of these tribal communities see Thanksgiving as a day to
acknowledge that painful history and remember their ancestors. Some actually
prefer not to even recognize the day at all, but

(02:56):
it's really nuanced from individual to individual. Some choose to
embrace the positive messages of the day while remembering its
complex history. Why because the idea of giving thanks is
central to Native American heritage and culture. In fact, long
before settlers got here, tribes celebrated the autumn harvest and

(03:17):
mother Earth's abundance with days of thanksgiving and gratitude. Native
American spirituality celebrates gratitude for creation, protecting the environment, and
also recognizing the human need to commune with nature. Thanksgiving
as a holiday actually originates from the Native American belief

(03:39):
in giving without expecting anything in return. Back in sixteen
twenty one, for the first celebration, the Wampaag tribe not
only brought the food, but also teachings about agriculture and hunting.
In this new land. Things like corn, beans, wild rice,
and turkey were all introduced to the settler's Native Americans. Sadly,

(04:02):
just fifteen years later, as many as seven hundred Natives
were massacred by Europeans and warriors from other tribes who
are allied with the settlers. So how do Native Americans
look at Thanksgiving? Now? They remember their ancestors, and despite
the day's complex origin, a lot of Natives get together
with friends and family to eat good food and to

(04:24):
give thanks And I love this. Some go to the
Thanksgiving Indigenous People's Sunrise Ceremony before daybreak on Alcatraz Island
in San Francisco Bay. There they honor the strength, resilience,
and cultural heritage of Indigenous peoples around the world. What
an amazing way to celebrate the day. Stephen Peters, a

(04:47):
Wampa Noag tribe spokesman, explains his views on Thanksgiving and
has this to say. My ancestors had four harvest festivals
throughout the year. Gathering with family, enjoying our company, sharing
our blessings, and giving thanks is a good thing. I say.
Have more Thanksgiving events throughout the year. But I also

(05:08):
ask that you take a moment at this time to
remember what happened to my people and the history as
it was recorded, and not the narrative that we have
been given in the history books. So that perspective is
not about blame, but about appreciating and learning from this
complicated story. It's about understanding the beauty of our differences,

(05:29):
which will help us break down the barriers that divide us.
And it's also about taking a deeper look at the
many rich lessons we can all learn from the Native
American ability to live with and protect the amazing land
and resources that we share. Again, I want to thank
listener Mark Chambers from mid Lothian, Virginia for suggesting this story.

(05:51):
Thank you, Mark. It's a beautiful thing to appreciate our
differences and our similarities. Hope you like the backstory with
Patty Steele. I would love it if you would subscribe
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and feel free to DM me if you have a

(06:12):
story you'd like me to cover. On Facebook, It's Patty
Steele and on Instagram Real Patty Steele. I'm Patty Steele.
The Backstories a production of iHeartMedia, Premiere Networks, the Elvis
Duran Group, and Steel Trap Productions. Our producer is Doug Fraser.
Our writer Jake Kushner. We have new episodes every Tuesday

(06:34):
and Friday. Feel free to reach out to me with
comments and even story suggestions on Instagram at Real Patty
Steele and on Facebook at Patty Steele. Thanks for listening
to the Backstory with Patty Steele, the pieces of history
you didn't know you needed to know.