Love is the experience of Union...

And a word from me...some thoughts I have about
Thanksgiving...

I have wrestled with the holiday we celebrate named
Thanksgiving for some years now.  I wrestle with the
mythology surrounding Thanksgiving because when I
learned of the genocides of the First Nations People
that began during this period my world was forever
changed.  We all think of the Nazi Period as that of
being the most horiffic crimes on Mother Earth but I
suggest to you it began long before that.  I gleaned
the following article from the internet some years ago
that I wanted to share with you today so that you
will know exactly where I'm coming from.

No Thanks to Thanksgiving by Robert Jensen, Alternet Instead, we should atone for the genocide that was incited -- and condoned -- by the very men we idolize as our 'heroic' founding fathers. One indication of moral progress in the United States would be the replacement of Thanksgiving Day and its self-indulgent family feasting with a National Day of Atonement accompanied by a self-reflective collective fasting. In fact, indigenous people have offered such a model; since 1970 they have marked the fourth Thursday of November as a Day of Mourning in a spiritual/political ceremony on Coles Hill overlooking Plymouth Rock, Mass., one of the early sites of the European invasion of the Americas. Not only is the thought of such a change in this white-supremacist holiday impossible to imagine, but the very mention of the idea sends most Americans into apoplectic fits -- which speaks volumes about our historical hypocrisy and its relation to the contemporary politics of empire in the United States. That the world's great powers achieved "greatness" through criminal brutality on a grand scale is not news, of course. That those same societies are reluctant to highlight this history of barbarism also is predictable. But in the United States, this reluctance to acknowledge our original sin -- the genocide of indigenous people -- is of special importance today. It's now routine -- even among conservative commentators -- to describe the United States as an empire, so long as everyone understands we are an inherently benevolent one. Because all our history contradicts that claim, history must be twisted and tortured to serve the purposes of the powerful. One vehicle for taming history is various patriotic holidays, with Thanksgiving at the heart of U.S. myth-building. From an early age, we Americans hear a story about the hardy Pilgrims, whose search for freedom took them from England to Massachusetts. There, aided by the friendly Wampanoag Indians, they survived in a new and harsh environment, leading to a harvest feast in 1621 following the Pilgrims' first winter. Some aspects of the conventional story are true enough. But it's also true that by 1637, Massachusetts Gov. John Winthrop was proclaiming a thanksgiving for the successful massacre of hundreds of Pequot Indian men, women and children, part of the long and bloody process of opening up additional land to the English invaders. The pattern would repeat itself across the continent until between 95 and 99 percent of American Indians had been exterminated and the rest were left to assimilate into white society or die off on reservations, out of the view of polite society. Simply put: Thanksgiving is the day when the dominant white culture (and, sadly, most of the rest of the nonwhite but non-indigenous population) celebrates the beginning of a genocide that was, in fact, blessed by the men we hold up as our heroic founding fathers. The first president, George Washington, in 1783 said he preferred buying Indians' land rather than driving them off it because that was like driving "wild beasts" from the forest. He compared Indians to wolves, "both being beasts of prey, tho' they differ in shape." Thomas Jefferson -- president No. 3 and author of the Declaration of Independence, which refers to Indians as the "merciless Indian Savages" -- was known to romanticize Indians and their culture, but that didn't stop him in 1807 from writing to his secretary of war that in a coming conflict with certain tribes, "[W]e shall destroy all of them." As the genocide was winding down in the early 20th century, Theodore Roosevelt (president No. 26) defended the expansion of whites across the continent as an inevitable process "due solely to the power of the mighty civilized races which have not lost the fighting instinct, and which by their expansion are gradually bringing peace into the red wastes where the barbarian peoples of the world hold sway." Roosevelt also once said, "I don't go so far as to think that the only good Indians are dead Indians, but I believe nine out of 10 are, and I shouldn't like to inquire too closely into the case of the 10th." How does a country deal with the fact that some of its most revered historical figures had certain moral values and political views virtually identical to Nazis? Here's how "respectable" politicians, pundits and professors play the game: When invoking a grand and glorious aspect of our past, then history is all-important. We are told how crucial it is for people to know history, and there is much hand-wringing about the younger generations' lack of knowledge about, and respect for, that history. In the United States, we hear constantly about the deep wisdom of the founding fathers, the adventurous spirit of the early explorers, the gritty determination of those who "settled" the country -- and about how crucial it is for children to learn these things. But when one brings into historical discussions any facts and interpretations that contest the celebratory story and make people uncomfortable -- such as the genocide of indigenous people as the foundational act in the creation of the United States -- suddenly the value of history drops precipitously, and one is asked, "Why do you insist on dwelling on the past?" This is the mark of a well-disciplined intellectual class -- one that can extol the importance of knowing history for contemporary citizenship and, at the same time, argue that we shouldn't spend too much time thinking about history. This off-and-on engagement with history isn't of mere academic interest; as the dominant imperial power of the moment, U.S. elites have a clear stake in the contemporary propaganda value of that history. Obscuring bitter truths about historical crimes helps perpetuate the fantasy of American benevolence, which makes it easier to sell contemporary imperial adventures -- such as the invasion and occupation of Iraq -- as another benevolent action. Any attempt to complicate this story guarantees hostility from mainstream culture. After raising the barbarism of America's much-revered founding fathers in a lecture, I was once accused of trying to "humble our proud nation" and "undermine young people's faith in our country." Yes, of course -- that is exactly what I would hope to achieve. We should practice the virtue of humility and avoid the excessive pride that can, when combined with great power, lead to great abuses of power. History does matter, which is why people in power put so much energy into controlling it. The United States is hardly the only society that has created such mythology. While some historians in Great Britain continue to talk about the benefits the empire brought to India, political movements in India want to make the mythology of Hindutva into historical fact. Abuses of history go on in the former empire and the former colony. History can be one of the many ways we create and impose hierarchy, or it can be part of a process of liberation. The truth won't set us free, but the telling of truth at least opens the possibility of freedom. As Americans sit down on Thanksgiving Day to gorge themselves on the bounty of empire, many will worry about the expansive effects of overeating on their waistlines. We would be better to think about the constricting effects of the day's mythology on our minds. AlterNet originally ran this article on Thanksgiving, 2005 You may or may not agree with what I have shared with you today...and that is alright.  But I believe it in my very core. I believe these wounds continue to plague us hundreds of years later and until we can make this right it will continue to. It is not only up to our Government to right this, it is up to us as individuals to understand that the True Thanksgiving should be one of prayer and gratitude for our blessings each day, and as the article states it should be a day of atonement to our First Nation Peoples...I'll let you decide how that should play out in your life?  Perhaps we all could start by sending a donation of money or other much needed items to reservations who so desperately need our help.  I know specifically of one reservation program that needs help...you can check it out for yourself? http://nativeprogress.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=184&Itemid=145 If nothing else, do it for the Elders and the Children?  If you cannot afford it, even a dollar would help and most of us blow that in one form or another everyday.  Time to give back what was so graciously given to us when our Ancestors set foot on this great continent. If I have offended anyone I am truly sorry as that is not my heart's intention with this post...only to let you see how I struggle with this holiday.  It is so borgeois to me.  I will not be making a turkey as others do...the very thought of buying a turkey that is raised the way our food markets raise food these days makes my stomach turn...if I could hunt one, I think that would be a better choice for me, or buy an organically free-ranged turkey perhaps, but I am so not into the whole idea of a big feast anymore.  I will be making a small dinner to share with my son, and perhaps some desserts in case my friends and other family members stop by to visit. The one thing I will be doing is spending time in reflection of The First Nations Peoples and sending my heart out to them in the Ethers, as well as sending out a check to them.  It may be late for Thanksgiving but next month will be equally as important.  Winter months are very harsh on the reservations. Here's wishing for you a great time of introspection and reflection of how we in America choose to celebrate Thanksgiving. (We are the only nation that holds this holiday) May we be grateful and live in a state of thanksgiving each day of our lives.... All My Love...