Copyright © 2002 NLThomas
All Rights Reserved

Some people may view "thanksgiving" as a white people holiday.. but its not. It is saddened that the holiday has been twisted with the Indian/Pilgrim story... and it is even sadder that people use this holiday as a protest to Columbus coming here.. lets face it, Columbus was not at the "first" thanksgiving dinner... And lets use this holiday for political protests... gee how wonderful for the true meaning of thanksgiving..

SO what is thanksgiving? My tribe had this celebration long before white man ever came to this country. It is actually a celebration of harvest. No, the Indians didn't have it every third week in November, they had the celebration when the harvest was done, nothing was more valuable as food. Winter was hard to survive. Eating has always been a very important thing to the Indian people, all Indians. SO these Indians had taught those new white people how to plant, how to harvest, and how to celebrate. How were these Indians supposed to know these white people were going to turn on them? It is not for you nor I to speculate. But I feel it is a great insult to those tribes who celebrate harvest, and to the memory of those who all came together on not just a day of celebration, but a week...

I don't know about anyone else... but I am tired of seeing a VERY traditional harvest celebration torn apart, ridiculed, nitpicked, insulted, and political protests used against something that someone has no understanding of.

Keely Squirrel-Denning, an enrolled member of the Cherokee Nation, Oklahoma, can be reached by e-mail.