November 28: From Grief to Solidarity

November 28: From Grief to Solidarity

By Josh Leach on November 27, 2024

As people across the United States head home this Thursday for the federal "Thanksgiving" holiday, it is worth asking ourselves: What are we giving thanks for? Many people of European descent may reply: For family, good fortune, being together, etc.

But since we are holding this holiday on Native American land, it is worth reminding ourselves the Indigenous people of this continent are not "grateful" for the dispossession of their homes and the destruction of their civilizations. And when Euro-Americans celebrate the occasion of their arrival in North America, it can sound to many Native people like they are giving praise for genocide.

More than 50 years ago, Native people gathered for the first time in Plymouth, Massachusetts to deliver this important reminder: The fourth Thursday of November is not, for them, a day of "thanksgiving" for the arrival of Euro-American settlers. Rather, it is an all-too visceral reminder of the pain these settlers inflicted upon their communities-and the oppression they still endure at the hands of the settlers' descendants.

For this reason, they declared this day a National Day of Mourning. In solidarity with our Indigenous members, staff, and partners, we mark this day as well. We also honor the strength, courage, and resilience with which Indigenous people have survived and defended their cultures, despite the efforts of colonial authorities to annihilate their existence.

The Origins of the Day of Mourning

The first National Day of Mourning came about because a Native leader was silenced for trying to tell the truth about "Thanksgiving." In 1970, the Aquinnah Wampanoag leader Wamsutta Frank James prepared a speech to deliver at a Thanksgiving Dinner. His hosts insisted they read a copy before he spoke, and they rejected his draft when they saw that it presented an honest critique of the holiday.

Rather than rewriting his speech to deliver a sanitized version of history, Wamsutta Frank James declined to speak at the event. Instead, he-along with other Native descendents of the civilizations that encountered the Pilgrims in Plymouth-marked the first Native American Day of Mourning. Today, the United American Indians of New England (UAINE) still hold an event each year at the same location, commemorating this day of grief.

As UAINE writes, in explaining the reasons to mark this occasion: "Thanksgiving Day is a reminder of the genocide of millions of Native people, the theft of Native lands and the erasure of Native cultures. Participants in National Day of Mourning honor Indigenous ancestors and Native resilience. It is a day of remembrance and spiritual connection, as well as a protest against the racism and oppression that Indigenous people continue to experience worldwide."

A Time for Solidarity

Even as the National Day of Mourning is about grief for the wrongs of the past, therefore, it is also about upholding Indigenous resistance in the present and future. Thus, one way to honor this day is to show solidarity with present-day Indigenous leadership. UAINE invites people to attend the National Day of Mourning. They also provide a link to the ongoing campaign to free Indigenous elder and activist Leonard Peltier from unjust incarceration.

UUSC members can also see this occasion as a chance to learn more about the work of our Indigenous partners around the world, who are still fighting for their rights. A recent post by our colleague Alejandro Guerrero Vargas describes some of their ongoing campaigns.

Gratitude-Not for the Past-But For Indigenous Futures

Many people of European descent in the United States-and others-have an emotional attachment to "Thanksgiving." Many grew up with the holiday, and they say that, even if it is based on a false or sanitized version of history, it nonetheless teaches good values: like showing gratitude for life's blessings.

But the point of the National Day of Mourning is not to deny gratitude. Rather, it reminds us to think more critically about what we are grateful for. Instead of celebrating colonialism, dispossession, and genocide, we should honor the survival and resilience of Native cultures. We should also be grateful for the fact that this survival gives us all a chance to work toward a better future today.

In addition to mourning the past, therefore, we also celebrate the promise of a new day that Indigenous leadership is building. As Wamsutta Frank James wrote more than 50 years ago, in the speech he was asked not to give: "Today we must work towards a more humane America, a more Indian America […] We, the Wampanoags, will help you celebrate in the concept of a new beginning."

Image credit: Shutterstock (Chinnapong)

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