Small Things Count

Thanksgiving Day—it wouldn’t have been the same without the Native Americans who joined with the Pilgrims in a feast of friendship.  Yet, to many Native Americans, that annual holiday is a day of disrespect.  Some schools have the kids draw themselves as “Indians.”  Some parents think it’s harmless fun to let their kids stick feathers in their hair and whoop around.  We read stories to them about the wonderful, loving first Thanksgiving, ignoring the truth about how the colonists would subjugate the Native Americans within 50 short years, forcing them into disease, genocide, theft of their lands, and loss of their culture–all while the newcomers prospered. Thanksgiving should be a time that we give thanks for all that we have.  It should also be a time to remember the native people who were here before us, to pray that what was done to the Native Americans (and other countries still do to other peoples) never happens again, and to celebrate their dignity as human beings.