Happy Thanksgiving!

8 Responses to “Happy Thanksgiving!”

1. The Raccoon on November 22nd, 2007 11:38 pm

   Heh, cool, dude. I hope some of the planned things are writing posts on this blog

2. Drima on November 23rd, 2007 12:11 am

   Oh don’t worry, this blog ain’t going nowhere and will remain alive for sure.

3. dead man smoking on November 23rd, 2007 10:16 am

   looooooool
   try tellin that to the native americans
   one question though.. do you also celebrate columbus day?
   i think americans should celebrate slavery too you know?
   fuck hypocrisy

4. Drima on November 23rd, 2007 11:01 am

   Cute.

5. tommy on November 23rd, 2007 12:59 pm

   looooooool
   try tellin that to the native americans
   one question though.. do you also celebrate columbus day?
   i think americans should celebrate slavery too you know?
   fuck hypocrisy

   Thanksgiving is not a celebration of killing Indians. Get a clue.

   Happy Thanksgiving, Drima.

6. Dalu on November 23rd, 2007 4:10 pm

   My mother got into the spirit of celebrating thanksgiving as part of her assimilation. But I have always never felt any connection or real interest in the Holiday.

   Also in High School, it didn’t help when a native friend told me “Thanksgiving is being thankful for the genocide of my people” I was like oh snap, to is family it’s a mournful day. That was the first time I started paying attention to what Thanksgiving was all about. And thats when I started noticing all the resistance and anti thanksgiving sentiments.

   Now I just don’t feel right about it at all.

   I realize that saying that it is being “thankful” for genocide” is a huge leap, but that historical period is just too iffy. And then thanksgiving falls smack in the middle of it.

   I would rather just not be part of it at all.

7. Andrew Brehm on November 23rd, 2007 5:23 pm

   “Thanksgiving is being thankful for the genocide of my people”

   That “native friend” was not more native than anybody else who was born and lived their entire lives in the United States. The difference he refers to when he says “my people” (as opposed to other Americans) is one of race. I don’t consider that important.

   There has also not been a “genocide” of Indians, most died of imported diseases. Europeans at the time did not know what causes diseases and didn’t bring those diseases on purpose. The black death killed a larger percentage of Europeans and it came to Europe from Asia. But I know very few Europeans who would accuse Asians of genocide for it (and yes, there have been Asian invasions of Europe at the time too).

   The “native friend” was told BS and seems to believe that that makes him more valuable. He has as much of a connection to the Indians of 500 years ago than a white American: he never met them in person. A bloodline is unimportant, blood does not convey cultural information.

   There exists also a far too romantic idea of how Indians lived before the white man arrived. It was no paradise. The tribes and states fought wars just as deadly as the Europeans. They were not “different” just because they are another race. The idea that race dictates culture is plain wrong. It wasn’t right when the Nazis and white supremacists advocated it, it isn’t right now that the liberals claim it.

   A picture much closer to reality is that Indians fought each other all the time, killed as many animals as they could, and most died when they were in their early thirties (which is the usual age for the lifestyle). Europe was a bit more advanced at the time. Again, this has nothing to do with who your ancestors were.

   Thanksgiving is not about thanking for a genocide (that never happened) it is about thanking for what nature provides and what other people did for us. If the “native friend” rejects the concept, let him live his sad life. The holiday is not symbolic for what “really happened” because nobody knows what “really happened”. The story of the day certainly does not advocate genocide or racism but friendship between peoples. If the “native friend” does not like what the holiday stands for, that’s his problem. But if he wants to pretend that he is better than others and that the holiday stands for genocide, he is a liar.

   “to his family it’s a mournful day”

   No, it isn’t. Nobody in his family remembers anyone of his family who lived back then. It is unlikely that his family even lived in the area. And if they did, it is unlikely that something bad really happened on that very day.

   If you want a sad day, pick one. But don’t pick one that somebody else celebrates for good reasons (friendship between peoples) and then claim moral superiority for it while condemning others for celebrating on that day.

   And don’t claim it’s a sad day for your family if it happened so many generations ago that you cannot even name the individuals affected, let alone know whether they were.

   For all we and the “native friend” know he could be the descendant of those Indians who helped the whites with their “genocide”. He could have been a member of those tribes and villages that allied with the whites against the others. The Indians were never a monolithic block. Far from being the victim, his family could be one of the perpetrators of the “genocide”. Alliances between whites and Indians changed a lot back then and there was always a 50% chance for any tribe to be part of the alliance with the whites rather than be the “victim”.

   Note: a “native American” is someone born in America. I refuse to make a racial disctinction. Why would I care if somebody’s ancestors were white or brown or red or blue with red dots? Race means nothing to me. “Indian” is a generic term to describe people descended from inhabitants of regions outside Europe, specific parts of Asia, and Africa, ever since the inhabitants of India have been found to be among that group (living in India outside the region described above). It’s a term of convenience, not of conviction. It’s as ambiguous as “native American”.

8. kinzi on November 25th, 2007 4:47 am

   Andrew, thanks for a much more eloquent reply than I could have made.

   Happy Thanksgiving to you, Drima!

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