The True Thanksgiving Day Narrative

Family members gathered around a table of food give thanks before embarking on an evening full of stuffing, pie, parades and football. This is what Thanksgiving has come to mean for many families in the United States. This family-oriented narrative, however, covers only a small aspect of the holiday’s history and implications.  

As with every story, the story of Thanksgiving has multiple perspectives — some more savory than others. “There are multiple narratives around Thanksgiving,” says Coordinator of Native American Studies Melissane Schrems, who is also the faculty advisor for St. Lawrence’s Native American Student Association (NASA). She says that the 1621 version, which involves Native Americans and pilgrims, can be broken up into the perspective of the Europeans, the Wampanoag people and the Pequot people. “There’s also the 1863 version,” she says, which involves Abraham Lincoln and the Union.  

The pilgrims were thankful in 1621 because they made it through the winter. In 1863, Abraham Lincoln was “trying to find a way to placate the civilians” by uplifting and bringing them together through the holiday, says Schrems. These are two positive narratives. The Native American centered narrative, however, is a story of destruction and loss.  

With the arrival of the Europeans, the Native American tribes soon became guests in their own land, as Schrems puts it. In fact, the Native American population would soon be overtaken by diseases brought over by those settlers. Today, Thanksgiving is actually considered a National Day of Mourning for many living on Cape Cod such as the Wampanoag and Pequot people, Schrems says.  

Many people do not grow up learning a well-rounded Thanksgiving narrative. “If I had a dime for every student who’s been shocked by the actual story that I tell them and then extra money for all the guilt they feel, I’d probably be very rich right now,” says Schrems.  

Taking action is more productive than feeling guilt, though. “No one should feel guilty,” Schrems says. “Not that we are not guilty, just that it does not do anything for indigenous people.” She suggests that people take action instead.  

There are many organizations and initiatives to give support, funding and time to that will specifically help indigenous people. A couple of examples are The American Indian College Fund and Horizons, the latter of which St. Lawrence has participated in, explains Schrems.  She also suggests making a land recognition statement, acknowledging the land in question’s history and who it first belonged to. 

Those who want to help can also do so by steering children away from the narrative that is popularly taught in schools — the one in which everyone got along without any issue at all. “Tell them the basic story,” says Schrems. Different ages can handle different degrees of detail, but the essential story should remain. Likewise, games like Pilgrims and Indians that paint a false and stereotypical view of Thanksgiving should be discouraged in schools. 

“There’s nothing wrong with families gathering together,” Schrems says. The problem is that the celebration stems from a fictitious narrative. The stuffing, pies and football games are not problematic if those experiencing them know and acknowledge a well-rounded historical narrative of the holiday and act accordingly, whether that be through deliberate action or through the general respect for the land they get to experience those things on.