The 28th of November: Thanksgiving.

A significant holiday in North America, seen as a time to bring loved ones together and remember blessings.

At least on the surface.

Thanksgiving has a darker history than we realise, and through our ignorance we are perpetuating colonisation and celebrating years of pain inflicted on native Americans.

Americans celebrate the holiday because of a supposed feast shared in 1621 between the Wampanoag people and English colonists known as pilgrims, to celebrate the good harvest.

According to Forbes, here at 4 vital facts about the real story of thanksgiving: 

-There are records of a celebration taking place, but no evidence to support that the Wampanoag tribe was invited to a feast. Some historians believe the 99 men were an army sent at the sound of gunshots, which were part of the celebration by the colonists. 

-Interactions between them weren’t friendly, and the pilgrims were the aggressors. During their first encounter, the pilgrims stole from the tribes' winter provisions.  

-Extreme discord continued after the first harvest. After becoming allies the Europeans went back on their promise and seized native land, not to mention enslaved and executed native people.  

-Thanksgiving celebrations that took place often followed brutal victories over Native people, like the Pequot Massacre of 1636 and the beheading of the Wampanoag leader Metacom in 1676. 

Not to mention that when Europeans started coming to the land four years before the Mayflower (the ship that transported the pilgrims to the US) arrived, they carried foreign illnesses which killed Native people at high rates- making it easier for colonisers to take over the land. 

It became an official holiday in 1863 during the American civil war- President Lincoln established it as a means to improve the relations between Northern and Southern states, as well as the US and tribal nations.

A year prior, a mass execution of Dakota tribal members took place.

They were at the brink of starvation and decided to fight back, resulting in the Dakota war of 1862.

In the end Lincoln ordered 38 Dakota men to be hung and felt that thanksgiving was an opportunity to bridge the hard feelings between natives and the federal government.

Because a national holiday makes it all okay. 

For the Wampanoag tribe- and other native tribes- the fourth Thursday in November is considered a day of mourning, not celebration.

Yet in American schools, children are not taught about the savage raping, killing and pillaging of the Native communities at that time.

By continuing to celebrate or even re-tell the incorrect version of events, we are perpetuating colonisation and forgetting about the thousands of innocent lives that were lost.

Nothing will change history, nor make up for the blood spilled, but the least we can do to honour them is to remember.

Learn their history, and remember the truth.