Dear Readers,

As we head into the holiday season, I can’t help but ponder the whole first Thanksgiving issue.  In fact, I cringe when I remember the nostalgic, myth-soaked rendition vs the Thanksgiving that I had encouraged in the classroom during my teaching years.  It seems particularly apropos to examine our beliefs as our nation carries on with the continuing conversation about race relations in the schools.  

In the “olden days” we so enjoyed the idea that the first white people who were settling in New England, hosted that wonderful, large banquet meal for their new friends, the Indians.  A true coming together of cultures, we were told.  They surely would enjoy peace and prosperity for all the years to come.  We love to think about the original menu.  

By now we agree that there may have been some dishes we make every year, you know, pumpkin, cranberries and turkey, even at the first Thanksgiving.   While I still cook these dishes, nothing wrong with adding a bit of romance as we enhance the menu a bit, right?  It’s kind of fun to compare our new version of the menu to, say, Edward Winslow’s diary notes about the feast. His writings were the only mention of a dinner in any of the letters and diaries from that era.  

William Bradford didn’t even mention a dinner in his seminal piece, which was a complete diary of the entire pilgrim’s experiment from the time they boarded the Mayflower and reached the shores of the new world.  What we do know is that the story we've heard and told for generations is largely a romanticized myth.

Listen, I’m not giving up Thanksgiving.  I still believe in it.  We must continue to try to forge peace between ethnic groups.  And yes, let’s continue to gather together, as family and friends.  Maybe we can change the narrative a bit, though?

For a more in-depth perspective, see the PBS American Experience episode: The Myth of Thanksgiving: Native American Perspectives on the Pilgrims. 
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To view time-stamped segments, follow the topics list below:

Introduction 0:26

Who are the Wampanoag and the Narragansett? 6:02

When Pilgrims arrive what happened to Natives due to Europeans?  8:50

What really happened to the Natives of this region before 1620? 13:11

Did the Pilgrims really mean to go Massachusetts? 16:31

What did Native Oral Tradition pass down about the Pilgrims?  19:03

What Earlier Europeans did to Native American of the New England region before 1620: 22:54

Alliances between Pilgrims and Natives: 24:59

Myth of Thanksgiving:

    Pilgrims view: 28:45
    Natives view: 31:28

What is Thanksgiving from the Native American point of view? 33:24

How did Thanksgiving become a national holiday? 38:18

Thank you to Mica 1990 for the segment breakdown. 

My heart swelled with relief and pride, as our President Biden attended this year's G7 Conference, held in Cornwall, United Kingdom. We are again a nation concerned with the environment, and committed to working with the distinguished representatives of the 6 other member countries. 

Greta Thunberg, the Swedish environmental activist, admonished world leaders for failing to address the urgency of climate change. Her organization, Fridays for Future, is a youth-led group that fights for more equitable and powerful laws regarding climate and the environment. She is right to admonish all nations for not doing enough to deal with climate change. And, we should be ashamed of ourselves.

Planning for future generations is not a new concept, by any means. In fact, the Seventh Generation plan developed by the ancient Iroquois Haudenosaunee became the guiding principle by which the tribes governed. 

Dating back to at least 1500 AD, the Seventh Generation principle, also called The Great Law, became the social, political and ceremonial fabric of the Five (later Six) Nation Confederacy. In fact, the American Constitution contains contributions from The Great Law, possibly thanks to Ben Franklin, who greatly admired the way the Haudenosaunee governed.

The Seventh Generation Principle in modern times is often brought up when decisions about water, natural resources and energy are made whether participants realize it or not. How will what we do today affect later generations? The idea that what we do now impacts future generations is an ancient one. 

The following brief, but engaging video further explains how Native Americans lived to honor people "seven generations" into the future using the Seven Generations Rule. 

Coming soon: Other ways early Native American principles not only impacted our past, but teach us about the future as well. 

OK, movie fans, grab your popcorn and step with me into the Hollywood scene, for just a little while. We love a good movie. Movies aren’t always just for entertainment. I’m always reminding myself of how hugely important and influential, and indeed a good piece of art, or a beautiful song, or a well done movie, or a lovely dance can be to make us think or rock the boat a bit.
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The 93rd Oscar winners were announced on Sunday, April 25. This year, those nominated for Academy Awards represented ethnic groups other than white. Women directors were well represented. And I have to point out that one of the winning actors is 83 years old. The field included a much more diverse group than usual.

I’ve been a movie buff for years. I remember when many of the actors who played Native Americans were white people lacquered up with a lot of dark makeup. It was pretty awful. Not to mention that the ethnic group portrayed was almost always feared – a group hated and inherently bad.

I grew up in the West. So many of the assumed Native American traits, characteristics and practices were grossly inaccurate. No Native American I have known says “How” for hello, or “Me Broken Feather.” In fact, I don’t think that any of my Native American friends even have a name like “Broken Feather.” Good grief.

You’d never know it from many film representations, but not all Native Americans lived in tepees. Some lived in pueblos, some in mounds of earth, and so forth. I’ve often wondered if John Wayne and others ever really looked back on those movies and cringed. Probably.

Brian Young, a Navajo filmmaker talks about the dilemma faced by Native American actors even now. “Why I Won’t Wear Paint and Feathers in a Movie Again” is an eye-opening story.

When I was a young mother with tiny kids, I remember taking my three little ones in our station wagon, to the drive-in to watch "Gone With the Wind." Well, I watched, they slept. The slave portrayals seemed contrived, patronizing and foolishly childlike. But somehow in 1939, Selznick wasn’t found guilty of offensive cultural stereotyping. Not then.

​They barely got away with the handsome Clark Gable saying, “Frankly my dear, I don’t give a damn” in 1939. THAT was enough to raise eyebrows in those days. But, not stereotyping. It's only in the clearer light of today that the film is finally being scrutinized.*

Anyway, movie nerd that I am, I am happy my viewing choices are a little more thoughtful, respectful, and humanely portrayed.

It took the Academy of Motion Pictures an awfully long time to wake up. And, it still has a long way to go.

Learn more about Black representation in film and television throughout history in these brief, but informative videos:
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The Evolution of Black Representation in Film

The Portrayal of African Americans In Television and Film

TCM Original Production: Blackface and Hollywood – African American Film History Documentary (12:46)

* Interestingly, Hattie McDaniel was the first African American to win an Academy Award for her portrayal of Mammy in 1939's "Gone with the Wind." Her father was a freed slave.

As  Nancy Kendall and other abolitionists did their small parts and major conductors such as Harriet Tubman assisted enslaved Africans on their way to freedom via the Underground Railroad, Native Americans in the US continued their struggle to keep their way of life. In fact, long before Africans were kidnapped and brought to the US, Native Peoples were forced into slavery.

Listen to NPR’s “An American Secret: The Untold Story of Native American Enslavement” for more information about this often neglected chapter in history.

I worked on the Navajo Reservation in AZ for a number of years as a teacher and librarian. It was one of the most rewarding experiences of my life. Half of the teachers were Navajo and half were Anglo. I have always been grateful to the community for allowing me to share their lives.

Teacher orientation included sessions with the remarkable Gramma Thomas. We fell in love with her. Everyone did. She was a prominent and revered citizen of her community, and indeed, of all the people in the Navajo Nation during her lifelong dedication as an educator.

One of the enchanting stories she told us new recruits was that we were there because her people decided they needed to learn to “walk in two worlds” to thrive. She told us about her life as a young Navajo girl on the reservation. She lived with her grandmother. As a child, she loved tending the corn fields and herding sheep. When her grandmother signed her up to go to a public school in Ganado, she didn’t want to go.

Not long after her arrival at school, she ran back to her grandmother. Her grandmother was not having it. The Catholic priest in Chinle had a car, and escorted the runaway right back to school.

In the end, Gramma Thomas's education was a blessing. She spent many years teaching in the local Chinle state schools.

The Navajo Reservation is the largest Indian reservation in the nation. It spans 25,000 square miles. Life there, though spare and basic, is convenient. Fast food places, a large chain grocery store, a post office and a Wells Fargo Bank branch are a few of the amenities.

In some ways, life seems not to have changed. People still haul and store drinkable water. Some haul and store coal from a mine in the area. Grammas and Grampas often live in hogans. Others live in trailers and small houses. It’s a much more practical life than that of mainstream America.

Efforts have been made over the years to provide financial assistance and other services. Employment continues to be a problem. Many Navajo men work in distant locations doing construction work. But more and more folks choose to pursue college educations.

I taught there for 11 years, until I retired. My fervent hope is that my students learned as much from me as I learned from them.

Our newly confirmed US Department of the Interior cabinet head, Deb Haaland is a member of the Laguna Pueblo Nation in Northern New Mexico. Secretary Haaland is the first Native American Cabinet secretary in the history of the nation. Because the Department of the Interior has a history of oppressing America’s Indigenous peoples, her appointment is both historic and symbolic.

For a more in-depth look at the history of First Nations in American, the PBS documentary “Native America” is a superb narrative. The documentary covers the history of Bonito Pueblo life at Chaco, the major cultural center of the Ancestral Pueblo Nation as well as other Native peoples and cultures.
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The entire documentary is over three hours long, but is divided into the following time marked segments:

From Cave to Cosmos - 0:00
Nature to Nations - 53:28 
Cities of the Sky - 01:46:55
New World Rising - 02:40:22

When I visited Chaco Canyon as a tourist, the forest ranger guide said the canyon had been “discovered” by white cowboys, Richard Wetherill and his brother-in-law Charlie Mason. What the ranger didn’t mention was that the discovery was possibly made with the help of a Native guide.

Coming Soon: Native Peoples and the intricate dance of walking in two worlds.

​Nancy Kendall did what Nancy Kendall did, and my beloved grandfather loved her, and her life, and he loved me enough to give me the gift of her words.  Telling her story and those of the enslaved people her family assisted can't help but bring to mind racial injustices and the unrest that is happening today.
 
One of my concerns in talking about racism here is that my voice will seem like just another ingratiating, limiting sympathetic view from an "understanding" white person. I cannot change the experiences of my life to be something else.  I hope I have a contribution to make, however.
 
As a white woman, I taught school on the Navajo Reservation for 11 years. I also taught school in a bilingual school in Honduras for a year. These facts do not qualify me to believe I am more understanding about racial differences, injustices and inhumanity. But it does give me something of a perspective, within my cultural limitations, to have a better understanding of racial differences than I had before.

​When the movie “Dances with Wolves” came out, I was entranced. The film, flawed as it was, moved me and gave me a better sympathy for the Native American experience. I was not alone in that. If nothing else, the film opened the eyes of many white Americans. I call it the "Dances With Wolves" syndrome.
 
When I taught on the Reservation, a beautiful children’s book series, written by a white man, about Native American people had a place in the library. It was well-written and well-intentioned.
 
One day, I asked a close friend and fellow teacher, Mae, why the Navajo teachers so often checked that series of books out for their classes. I mean, the girl is Little Flower, and a boy is Running Bear, not Darren or Jane, two actual names our students had. 
 
Mae explained: 
 
“Well, Nancy, as you know, there haven’t been many books about young Navajo people, fiction or otherwise, written down by Navajo people. It was white people who wrote things down. Our culture is an oral one. There have been some, and there are more and more, but this is the reality. That bestselling Anglo author’s books about Navajo characters isn’t Navajo. But he writes superbly, and he researches quite well, and he tells some of our stories in a lovely, complementary way. And, he sells books.”
 
So yes, I am much more interested in reading a former slave accounting of his or her escape experiences. Yes, I am much more interested in learning an account of Custer’s Last Stand that is written by a native American bystander who saw it. But, we can also talk about these things across racial lines. That is what I hope we can do.
 
Let’s try.