Posts tagged Native American
The True History Of Thanksgiving
The True History Of Thanksgiving

Many people believe that the tradition of Thanksgiving originated when the Pilgrims arrived and Native people helped them to survive their first brutal winter. We were taught in school that the settlers invited the Indians to a big feast of brotherhood as a way of thanks.

This is not the case.

Keep in mind that the first settlers were not in Plymouth, MA but in Virginia.

The people that arrived on the big ship in Massachusetts were adventurers and Separatists. They were people who were looking for adventure and religious freedom. Two very different types of people.

The Native people were not afraid with their arrival since the shipped contained women and children. They knew that warring people would not bring women and children, but still they stayed to themselves and watched and didn't interfere.

They watched as the settlers diminished that winter from 100 to 51 and then they went to help them to survive.

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MindfulnessKhristee RichNative American, Native American Heritage Month, Native American culture, The origin of Thanksgiving, The true story of Thanksgiving, How did Thanksgiving begin?, The history of Thanksgiving, Understanding Thanksgiving, Native Americans and ThanksgivingComment
Indigenous People’s Day
Indigenous People’s Day

Today is Indigenous People’s Day.

It wasn’t until my boyfriend in San Francisco back in 2011 called Columbus Day Indigenous People’s Day that I began to call it the same. He was the first person I had ever heard say Indigenous People’s Day and to honor Native people on this day.

And I am part Native American.

Today it actually makes me sad that people say Columbus Day and honor someone who didn’t discover America but was the beginning of land being taken away from Native people.

In grade school, I remember learning about Manifest Destiny.

It was man’s destiny to take as much land as he could the text books said.

We didn’t learn that peace between the early settlers and Native Americans was not true.

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Empowerment, Identity, MindfulnessKhristee Richindigenous people's day, indigenous people, Native American, childbirth around the worldComment
They’ve Lied To Us
They’ve Lied To Us

I am feeling mixed feelings today.
We celebrate freedom from the British today because we took freedom away from Native Americans.

Normally, I love the 4th of July.

It symbolizes freedom, fun, time with family and loved ones, good food, but how often do we think about what it really means?

This is the first time I took a moment to let it soak in.
Maybe because I have been doing so much soul searching and I have been looking at all the lies that have been told to us.

Everyone loves a day off. But what does the 4th of July mean?

In the history books, (they gave us in grade school), they say that Christopher Columbus “discovered” America in 1492.

They lied to us.

It was discovered before by Native Americans.
The United States didn’t begin because of a “discovery.”
It began from abuse of power.
Europeans believed in Manifest Destiny.
They believed that the more land they possessed, the more powerful they were.
They didn’t care if other people already lived here.
They wanted it for themselves.
Native Americans were not respected because of their race.
Because they were dark-skinned, spoke a different language, and were not Christian, they were seen as inferior.
Our country was created by abuse of power and racism.

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Authenticity, IdentityKhristee RichNative American, Fourth of JulyComment