Thanksgiving–History From The Enemy’s Point Of View

Posted By James Fulford On 14 November 2007 @ 12:52 In General | Comments Disabled

The Seattle Public Schools have issued an anti-Thanksgiving fatwa, with no thought for the fact that most of their students might actually give thanks to God for America and its many blessings. They’re more concerned with the descendants of the people who lost the Indian Wars. They [1] write:

We recognize the amount of work that educators and staff have to do in order to fulfill our mission to successfully educate all students. It’s never as simple as preparing and delivering a lesson. Students bring with them a host of complexities including cultural, linguistic and social economic diversity. In addition they can also bring challenges related to their social, emotional and physical well being. One of our departments’ goals is to support you by suggesting ways to assist you in removing barriers to learning by promoting respect and honoring the diversity of our students, staff and families.

With so many holidays approaching we want to again remind you that Thanksgiving can be a particularly difficult time for many of our Native students. This website [2] http://www.oyate.org/resources/shortthanks.html offers suggestions on ways to be sensitive of diverse experiences and perspectives and still make the holiday meaningful for all students. Here you will discover ways to help you and your students think critically, and find resources where you can learn about Thanksgiving from a Native American perspective. Eleven myths are identified about Thanksgiving, take a look at #11 and begin your own deconstruction.

This is their favorite myth:

Myth #11: Thanksgiving is a happy time.

Fact: For many Indian people, “Thanksgivingâ€