Native American storyteller invites people to "rethink" the myths around Thanksgiving

[Leroy N. Soetoro]

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/thanksgiving-native-american-rethinking-
holiday-traditions/

Native American storyteller Perry Ground, a Turtle Clan member of the
Onondaga Nation, starts his "rethinking" of Thanksgiving with a quiz.

Ground, who has been telling stories for 25 years in an effort to increase
cultural understanding around Native American history, says his audience
is usually surprised by "what they think they know – and don't know– about
the story of the 'First Thanksgiving.'"

The three-day feast in 1621 was a moment in time, with just one tribe,
Ground says, but has shaped the way that many people think about Native
Americans because of the role they are believed to have played in the
event.

Ground hopes his work – and those of other native voices – can help
Americans "rethink" the idea of Thanksgiving by providing a more nuanced
understanding of what happened in 1621 and the incredible destruction and
upheaval forced upon native tribes when settlers arrived in North America.

The 21-question quiz includes questions on whether turkey was served at
the "First Thanksgiving" feast, why the celebration became a national
holiday and what the interaction was really like between the Pilgrims and
Native Americans.

Many respondents don't know the answers. They also don't realize how
little Native Americans had to do with the "creation of Thanksgiving,"
said Ground. He tries to widen their perspective by sharing the history
and dispelling the myths surrounding the holiday through story.

In 1621, Pilgrims shared a feast with the Wampanoag people, which was
recounted in a letter written by settler Edward Winslow. He wrote, "we
exercised our arms, many of the Indians coming amongst us, and amongst the
rest their greatest king Massasoit, with some ninety men, whom for three
days we entertained and feasted."

From those few lines rose the myth surrounding the relationship between
Native Americans and settlers. The interaction was presented as a rosy
story instead of talking about the outcome and the effects on the native
community, said Joshua Arce, president of Partnership With Native
Americans, one of the largest Native-led nonprofits in the U.S.

Arce, a member of the Prairie Band Potawatomi Nation, said Thanksgiving
for many Native Americans is "a day of resilience, of mourning – and a day
of survival."

Cooperation and peace between the native tribes and the settlers after the
feast was short-lived. Throughout the period of European colonization,
millions of Native Americans were killed, either in fighting or by
disease. Between 80% and 95% of the Native American population died within
the first 100-150 years of European contact with the Americas, researchers
estimate.

It was after "The Trail of Tears," when Native Americans were forcibly
displaced from their homelands following the 1830 Indian Removal Act (with
over 10,000 dying on the brutal trek) that Thanksgiving became a holiday.
President Abraham Lincoln made a proclamation in 1863 that Thanksgiving
was to be regularly commemorated each year on the last Thursday of
November. On Dec. 26, 1941, President Franklin D.
Roosevelt signed a resolution establishing the fourth Thursday in November
as the federal Thanksgiving Day holiday.

Arce said the struggle for the native community is to "reconcile what
happened then to now." November is a time of harvest and part of the
natural cycle when communities prepare for winter. For Arce, incorporating
seasonal elements important to native communities and their distinct
traditions into Thanksgiving can help honor their survival and resilience.

For Ground, storytelling is the way to learn about Native American
cultures and traditions, and he wants his audience to engage through
different techniques, like his quiz.

In addition to his "Rethinking Thanksgiving" presentation, he also tells
stories about different Native American myths and legends, because while
communities have evolved, "we also have these traditions and ideas that
are important to us."

For Ground, Thanksgiving shouldn't be the only time people should think
about Native Americans. "We are human beings that have a continuum of
history and we continue to exist today," he said.


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