Here Today... Gone To Hell!

Edit [ http://www.electronicaztlan.net/content/view/211/1/   Written by Barry White Crow Higgins ]

I have been asked here today to speak of Thanksgiving from the Native perspective.

I am grateful for this opportunity. It is a however a difficult story to be told as it shakes the history most of us have grown to know. It had little to do with turkey, potatoes, or pie. Mid winter of 1620 the Americas saw the landing of the Pilgrims in the area known today as Plymouth MA. They were however not the first to land on these shores. In 1614 a British expedition had already landed there. When they left they took 24 Indians as slaves and left smallpox, syphilis and gonorrhea behind. That plague swept the so-called "tribes of New England", and destroyed some of the villages totally.

The new 1620 settlers were not farmers so their crop failed miserably. Were it not for the guidance of a Pawtuxet named Squanto they would have surely perished. Squanto also negotiated a peace treaty with the Wampanoag people. The next year William Bradford declared a three-day feast after the first harvest. It would later become a part of the myth known as Thanksgiving. The Pilgrims did not call it that nor were the Indians who attended the feast even invited. The invitation was only to Squanto and Chief Massasoit. They then invited over 90 brothers and sisters to the affair much to the distaste of the Europeans. There were no prayers and the "Indians" were never invited back again. So contrary to popular myth the Puritans were not friends to the Natives. For they believed they were the chosen people of the infinite God, granting them heavenly dispensation for any actions against a people predestined for damnation. Bradford later wrote "It pleased God to visit these Indians with a great sickness though in this regard God was not perfect for 50 of every thousand Indians has survived."

By 1641 things had really begun to deteriorate and the forth coming of the Natives people forgotten. A 1641 massacre of the Pequot's in CT was very successful, so much so, the churches declared a day of "Thanksgiving" to celebrate victory over the now heathen first peoples. This was the first real use of the term of thanksgiving to mark a day of celebration. The celebration included the decapitation of the heads of eighty Natives, which were tossed into the streets for the New Settlers to kick about as a sign of power and defiance.

Also at this time the Governor Kieft of Manhattan offered the first use of scalping as a form of bounty of 20 shillings per scalp and 40 for each prisoners they could use to sell into slavery. Permission was given to rape or enslave any Native women and enslave any child under 14. Law gave permission to "kill savages on sight at will". By 1675 the Native people under Metacomet fought back with vengeance. But even Metacomet would meet his fate at the hands of the Europeans when he was hunted down and killed, body dismembered, hands sent to Boston, head to Plymouth to be placed on a pole on a Thanksgiving Day in 1767. Archive

MAPA-Nevada

Early American history goes on to honor those who would contribute to the genocide of the First Peoples of the Americas. George Washington ordered the attacks on the six nations of the Iroquois despite the gift of 700 bushels of corn he and his men at Valley Forge received from the Oneida peoples. Survival of the troops was at the fate of the saviors themselves. Lord Jeffery Amherst the conceiver and first American user of biological warfare with his inspired use of smallpox infected blankets. Andrew Jackson late repeated this action with the Seminoles. Locally (here in New England) we know the massacre at what we now call Wissatinnewaq by Captain Turner against elders, women, and children. This history would repeat itself with the truth poorly documented and rarely spoken. As recent as 1967, the State of Vermont performed involuntary sterilization of Native females without their permission.

5 to 6 Million Jews and Gypsies were decimated by the Nazi regime in World War II. These facts are well remembered and the world mourns these events. Not to minimize these events or the souls of those victimized, these numbers pale in comparison to the events of the Americas. It has been estimated that over 100 million Native Americans were killed by the European invaders during the establishment of the nation we know today.

Thanksgiving was, without the declared name, a tradition of the Native Peoples a time to give thanks to the Creator for the bounty of the harvest and their lives. As the last crops were harvested time was taken to reflect and give thanks. Although short lived, for three days peace and fellowship was shared in New England back in 1621, a gratefulness was shown for the compassion of one peoples to another and the gifts of Grandfather and Mother Earth acknowledged and shared unconditionally.

I do not speak these truths to solicit sympathy or the righting of ancestral wrongs. Histories cannot be changed but truth is tool that will give us an opportunity to learn from the mistakes of the past and use this knowledge to prevent them from happening again. We know genocide is happening in many areas of the world today. We can pray for these victim souls and by living a better example we can effect change. I would suggest that Thanksgiving, go beyond the gratefulness of the harvest and should be dedicated as well to all our ancestors and give thanks for the things they have taught us with their lives of triumph and failure.

By awakening I pray we may learn to make a better tomorrow.

I agree. A day to celebrate the genocide of indigenous people ... Fuck that shit.

A brief overview of a couple of other events.(brutality excluded)

Massacre at Wounded knee (http://www.lastoftheindependents.com/wounded.htm)

Trail of Tears (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trail_of_Tears)


The government, and peoples of the United States conducted a brutal campaign of extermination against the native people of this land until 25 years ago. There are still "political prisoners" in American jails today. Educate yourself!

The concept of thanksgiving is good.. The reasoning behind it is shitty...

The concept is "theft from" and "murder of". Nope, I disagree.

Nope.. The concept is be thankful for what you have blah blah...

You stated the reasoning behind it  : ok:

I personally don't give a fuck....I got the day off and that's all that matters to me  :peace:

It is a time when families can get together and fatten up.

The whole concept is essentially a fraud. 

The concept of genocide of the true American people? They ones who were willing to help 'till they decided to infect the native peoples with their diseases. This "concept" isn't good - it's raging bullshit crammed down peoples throat from birth. Celebrating every year the murders of millions apon millions of people. But yet, it's fine to honor WWII and shit, when that doesn't even hold a candle to what the US Gov't has done over time to my people.

Christ  ::)


Does your family celebrate these things at thanksgiving?? I'd hope not..

These are not the the things people think about for this holiday... True those are the things that brought it about, but its not what people celebrate... there is a difference

Well, maybe they should. I'll drink my whiskey in rememberance of those that have died ... and fuck with my republiturd, asshole, family in their, and mine, complicity.

But then if they did, you guys would be crying about it 100x harder  :confused:

all it is for me is a day for turkey and i don't do much work  :peace:   not that my job sucks or anything.

oh my motherfucking god, you know dude I like you, but ... an atheist just prayed for your soul.

The CONCEPT of a day of thanksgiving has nothing to do with the genocide of the indigenous peoples of the Americas (Europeans and others had days of thanksgiving long before they reached the shores of North America) and I sincerely hope no one is foolish enough to suggest that it does. Anyone that does is confusing concept with history. I think the problem lies with the US myth of the "first" thanksgiving". It's a rosy myth that retains little of the truth behind the matter. Thanksgiving was made into a holiday not to remember those Puritans who first (arguably as the Spanish probably did this first) called for a day of thanksgiving but as a day to simply give thanks for what you had. This first started sometime after the revolutionary war (by Washington? my memory is a bit foggy) but it wasn't until Lincoln called ?for these annuals days of thanksgiving that it became a national fixture. Sure, the Puritans were (again, arguably) the first to call for a day of thanksgiving in North America, but such days existed before this (though they were more solemn occassions than celebrations, that Puritan thanksgiving being more of a harvest fest) and Thanksgiving as a national holiday in the USA has little to do with this "original" Thanksgiving. As far as I remember, there is no mention of Puritans or Native Americans in Lincoln's or Washington's call for a day of national Thanksgiving.
 ? ? ? ? ? ? Saying that when we celebrate Thanksgiving we are celebrating genocide is an ignorant comment to make. It would be like saying when you celebrate Valentine's Day you are celebrating Capone's murder of Seigel's men. To sum up, there were days of thanksgiving before the Puritans landed at Plymouth (admittedly of a somewhat different sort) and the calls for a nationally designated day of Thanksgiving make no mention of the "first Thanksgiving". Thanksgiving is what it says it is: a day of giving thanks to whoever or whatever you want to give thanks to. Just because the people who celebrated the mythological first Thanksgiving did ?terrible things to the indigenous people of the Americas does not mean that this is the motivation or reason behind Thanksgiving. I don't think the happy myth of the first Thanksgiving should really be told to children, but any smart child will remember this myth when they learn about what the early settlers did to the Native Americans and question its accuracy. Again, the concept of thanksgiving is to give thanks for what you have.

^ Thank you ellroy




I'm just sayin man... Nothing wrong honoring those who died... but doont think thanks giving is celebrating the ones who killed them

BULLSHIT! Look no futher than the writings of the fascist Lincoln.

EDIT: Remember, to not only go the spoils, but the writers of history.

Well, say what you like about Lincoln. The man did do some highly questionable things to keep the union together and his call for Thanksgiving is incredibly religious, but my point remains true I think.

Abraham Lincoln gets so much credit, but I think he is kind of like Jose Canseco *The famous baseball player who outed everyone who did steroids*


He didn't out the people on steroids for the good of the game, he did it to sell a book and make money.


Same with Lincoln.

I don't think he freed the slaves out of thinking it was wrong or bad, I think he did it to mess with the South and to help his side in the war.


I feel really bad for the Native Americans.

They help these new people learn to live, learn to be self sufficient, and they are repaid by getting murdered and moved from their land.

I am mostly white, bout 1/4 Cherokee Indian but I am truly ashamed by my race and some of the things we have done over the years.

Alright you grumpy gobblers, no pie for you!!!   :)

You can still celebrate Thanksgiving without swallowing the b.s. "1st Thanksgiving" story.

Loaded Nightrain and Ellroy said it best, give thanks to whoever or whatever you want, it's a day to give thanks.  You're not contractually bound to do so, but it is a nice thing to do.   :) Personally, I'm thankful Kelly Clarkson is done singing at halftime of this Cowboys-Jets game.  It looks like she's been eating Thanksgiving feasts every night for the past couple months.  (I will give her credit for not lip-syncing)

 :peace:


 

Pass the bong!  :smoking:

Holy Shit she was horrible!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


Thanksgiving was great today, I ate a shitload, So I got a bunch of running to do tomorrow! :hihi: :hihi: :hihi: :hihi:

I'd still be thankful to stuff her turkey anyday!

Bill 213, you can have her buddy.   :nervous:

do i celebrate the death of jesus and allah on christmas ?





FUCK YEAH ! ;)

here i was thinking that we celebrated jesus's birth on x-mas :P

Bumping again.

Thanksgiving is kind of a fucked holiday

Lets celebrate the day we made friends with the Native Americans only to later fuck them in the ass.

that is right !! Fuck Turkey , not sheep.

Exactly, it's like someone saying happy holocoust to a jew. Happy thanksgiving to a Native just ain't right IMo.

I didn't eat today.

if you would of been at my house you would have...mmm prime rib  :drool: