Thanksgiving is a North American holiday. If I remember my school lessons correctly, it derives from the experience of the first European settlers here in North America and their experience of their first few years here on this continent. The way we were taught about this holiday when I was in elementary school recalled how difficult these first Europeans found the bitter winter to survive on their own and how unprepared they were to make it through this difficult climate. They were so unprepared for the conditions they found on this continent that it was only with the help of the Indigenous People, who knew the land and the ways of growing here, that they were able to make it through those initial days. Once they had learned to grow crops in this territory and figure out how to survive the conditions on this continent, they were so grateful that they began to have a special feast called “Thanksgiving” at the end of the growing season to celebrate the goods of this land and the great opportunities that they had discovered here. From my school days, I recall a part of those initial Thanksgiving celebrations involved celebrations with the Indigenous People who had helped these first settlers to make their lives possible here. That is why so many of our celebrations still highlight the many vegetables and local products that were handed over to the Europeans by the Indigenous People to help them survive. Of course, the history of our continent also shows us that this cooperative relationship between the first European settlers and the Indigenous People did not continue for very long. After a very short period of time, the European settlers began to take the land for granted and to demand that it all be given to them. What was at first regarded as a privilege to be grateful for, soon began to be regarded as something that was owed to them and the land and the Indigenous People were exploited. The great buffalo that roamed the continent were soon extinct and the Indigenous Peoples lost their lands and were relegated to reserves across both Canada and the United States. We still hear of the tragic circumstances of this history today as we read about the high suicide rates among the young people in the Indigenous communities. This is a part of our history that still calls for much healing, truth and reconciliation. Continue reading →