{"id":1424,"date":"2023-11-20T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2023-11-20T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.classroomforchange.com\/?p=1424"},"modified":"2023-11-22T21:52:04","modified_gmt":"2023-11-22T21:52:04","slug":"a-teachers-guide-to-teaching-thanksgiving-responsibly","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/classroomforchange.com\/a-teachers-guide-to-teaching-thanksgiving-responsibly\/","title":{"rendered":"A Teacher’s Guide to Teaching Thanksgiving Responsibly"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

This blog post was originally published on November 25, 2020 and is updated annually.<\/em> <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Truth Behind Thanksgiving<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

The month of November is known for the quintessential American holiday of Thanksgiving, but November is also Native American Heritage Month. Why is this ironic? Well, in a nutshell, old, lingering traditions of Thanksgiving harm the very community we seek to honor + celebrate in a special way in November. There is more to Thanksgiving than what our history books tell us. Traditional stories about Thanksgiving are historically inaccurate, yet these harmful narratives are perpetuated year after year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Before teaching the origins of Thanksgiving, we must consider the significance of the holiday and what it means to Indigenous people. Most materials cycling through our homes + classrooms paint an incomplete and inaccurate picture of what some refer to as the “First Thanksgiving.” Myths of the Thanksgiving story<\/a> more or less revolve around the “Pilgrims and Indians” coming together in 1621 to share a friendly meal as a symbol of peace. Though the Mayflower pilgrims and Wampanoag tribe did indeed come together to partake in an autumnal harvest, there is more to the story. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The actual relationship between the English settler newcomers and the Wampanoag tribe who called Plymouth Rock home was far from rosy. What our history books often leave out is the disease that was brought along with the pilgrims upon their arrival, the exploitation of Native resources, the broken alliances, and the brutal massacres on neighboring tribes. For many Native Americans, the sacred tradition of ‘giving thanks’ and what has become known as Thanksgiving is tainted by the tellings and retellings of a false Thanksgiving narrative. For Indigenous peoples, Thanksgiving is a day that is associated with the genocide of their people and is now more accurately referred to by Native Americans as “Thankstaking” because of all that was taken away and lost once the pilgrims arrived in their homeland. With this painful reminder, Thanksgiving has become a National Day of Mourning for Indigenous Peoples in the United States, yet it is still a holiday that is celebrated far and wide across the country. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

How can educators, school leaders, families, and others address the Thanksgiving holiday while remaining culturally sensitive and true to history? How do we shift the conversation away from pilgrims and turkeys and towards honoring Indigenous peoples + a practice of gratitude? I tackle these questions and more in “A Teacher’s Guide to Teaching Thanksgiving Responsibly”<\/a> to help us unpack the hard history behind one of America’s favorite holidays. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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