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My prayer this “thanksgiving” is that the voice and story of the unheard, the plants, animals, women, children, marginalized, ancestors, and BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, and people of color) are all heard and held.
"For the Wampanoags and many other American Indians, the fourth Thursday in November is considered a day of mourning, not a day of celebration.
Because while the Wampanoags did help the Pilgrims survive, their support was followed by years of a slow, unfolding genocide of their people and the taking of their land.
“That’s not something we celebrate because it resulted in a lot of death and cultural loss. Thanksgiving doesn’t mean to us what it means to many Americans.”
The actual history of what happened in 1621 bears little resemblance to what most Americans are taught in grade school, historians say. There was likely no turkey served. There were no feathered headdresses worn. And, initially, there was no effort by the Pilgrims to invite the Wampanoags to the feast they’d made possible.
Just as Native American activists have demanded the removal of Christopher Columbus statues and pushed to transform the Columbus holiday into an acknowledgment of his brutality toward Indigenous people, they have long objected to the popular portrayal of Thanksgiving.
In his book, “This Land Is Their Land,” author David J. Silverman said schoolchildren who make construction-paper feathered headdresses every year to portray the Indians at the first Thanksgiving are being taught fiction.
“For us, Thanksgiving kicked off colonization,” he said. “Our lives changed dramatically. It brought disease, servitude and so many things that weren’t good for Wampanoags and other Indigenous cultures.”
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PS. I don't want to propagate guilt, I want to amplify truth. Sometimes when we hear these stories, we take on the guilt and trauma of our ancestors. Feeling guilty is never healing, in fact it's one of the lowest vibrations we can embody. Instead, when we have these feelings come up, we should practice forgiveness for our self and for others. Even if we weren't responsible, lighting a candle, making a prayer or peace offering, can support the ancestral energies that are present in the collective field.
In order for emotions to heal, they need to be fully felt and processed, and while we don't have to take it on as our own, as empaths and light workers, we are sensitive and caring, and therefore sometimes do. Rather than carrying the negative emotion in our body or as our own, we can learn to hold space without taking these on. And that's where ritual comes in, it's not hard to take a moment and send positive energy to those that are effected by these kinds of tragic events.
Another thing you can do is spread awareness so that more people know the truth. You can, for example, share and like this article. The process of enlightenment and awakening consciousness is the journey of bringing more light to the shadow.
When we can hold the light and the shadow of what is, then we can truly be free... and give thanks