Change has already begun, Columbus Day is now Indigenous People’s Day so now it’s time to rethink Thanksgiving.
Most people don’t think about how Thanksgiving started in the United States when digging into their turkey, ham or main dish of choice.
Thanksgiving was meant to be a day for the pilgrims and for the people that came after them to thank god for everything they had achieved.
For many Native Americans, Thanksgiving is a day of mourning the genocide and conquest of their people.
The first Thanksgiving is said to be the day the pilgrims and Native Americans came together to break bread and share a meal together.
Looking back through history, the Native Americans had nothing to be thankful for on that day.
Instead of sharing the story of the “First Thanksgiving” over and over again why not make it a day to celebrate Native American culture and traditions.
A day to give thanks has been part of Native American cultures for centuries.
Most people only celebrate Thanksgiving as an excuse to stuff their faces anyway so as long as they get to eat what issue would they have with changing the meaning behind the holiday.
Another issue with Thanksgiving is that even though it’s supposed to be a day to be thankful for the things you already have, yet two days made specifically to get people buy themselves new things come right after.
There’s nothing wrong with buying or wanting new things but it just makes the holiday lose its meaning even more and just makes it all about the food.
Thanksgiving could easily become Feast Day, Food Day, even Big Dinner Day if that’s what the people want.
Thanksgiving celebrates a time in U.S. history that doesn’t have to be forgotten but that doesn’t need a holiday celebrating the things that took place.
If people want their food that’s fine, but lets make a day to remember and honor the Native Americans who lost their lives all those years ago.
Let’s make a day to celebrate the cultures of the Native American people who are still here with us today.
Some people might argue that by changing the names of holidays we are erasing our history.
It’s not, it’s an attempt to try and make up for some wrongs that were committed in the past.
Native Americans were the first, original Americans so by making a day to celebrate and honor their cultures we are actually preserving U.S. history.
The U.S. needs to stop burying Native American history and bring it back to the surface.
Progress has been made with Indigenous People’s Day so let’s keep that momentum going with Thanksgiving.
