By Mark Charles | Wirelesshogan
Published in November of 2015
SUMMARY: Navajo author Mark Charles says that Thanksgiving is built on a “mythological potluck celebrated by Native Americans and Pilgrims back in the ‘Good ole Days.'” That myth is deeply hurtful to indigenous people. Does that mean we need to stop celebrating Thanksgiving? No, but we should recognize the wounds that are still open and not perpetuate the myths associated with Thanksgiving.
Note that Charles changed his view on celebrating Thanksgiving in 2018. Read Why I Decline This Opportunity for Thanksgiving or watch Who “Belongs” at Uncle Sam’s Thanksgiving Table? (he is the first speaker) for his reasons why.
KEY QUOTE: “We can have Thanksgiving without the myth. We can give thanks without fabricating a memory. We can make time to sincerely say “Thank you.” But it won’t be easy, because giving thanks requires being honest and vulnerable, and that is difficult to do for a nation living in deep denial of its own unjust history.”
DID YOU KNOW? We have a learning capsule about Thanksgiving with resources to help faithfully learn about the holiday.
Read the full article at Wireless Hogan
More curated articles on Thanksgiving:
ARTICLE: Five Myths About the Pilgrims
Did you know that the Pilgrims had a fondness for colorful clothing and not the stereotypical plain, black wardrobe that is normally depicted? Did you know that religious freedom was not the primary motivation for the Pilgrims to cross the Atlantic? Our favorite Thanksgiving historian Robert Tracy McKenzie debunks five myths that are commonly associated…
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ARTICLE: Why I Decline This Opportunity for Thanksgiving
Navajo and author Mark Charles uses Abraham Lincoln’s 1863 Thanksgiving Proclamation as a backdrop for detailing the indigenous ethnic cleansing that was happening under the sixteenth president’s watch while declaring a day for “thanksgiving and praise.” Charles previously celebrated Thanksgiving (see The Myth of Thanksgiving and Racial Conciliation), but starting in 2018 he stopped after continuing…
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ARTICLE: Jesus Wants an Awkward Thanksgiving Dinner
A meal, particularly at Thanksgiving, is an excellent way to get to know your neighbors and/or co-workers. But to avoid the common traps of the “good giver” and the “poor receiver,” we must first practice true hospitality by putting in the time to develop relationships.
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Sunday to Saturday 