Cooking the History Books: The Thanksgiving Massacre

Is All That Turkey and Stuffing a Celebration of Genocide?

Thanksgiving is a holiday where families gather to share stories, football games are watched on television and a big feast is served. It is also the time of the month when people talk about Native Americans. But does one ever wonder why we celebrate this national holiday? Why does everyone give thanks?

History is never simple. The standard history of Thanksgiving tells us that the "Pilgrims and Indians" feasted for three days, right? Most Americans believe that there was some magnificent bountiful harvest. In the Thanksgiving story, are the "Indians" even acknowledged by a tribe? No, because everyone assumes "Indians" are the same. So, who were these Indians in 1621? [Full Article]

Protest Media Coverage

An "Unbiased" Report

After the Trans-Atlantic Business Dialogue (TABD) protests in Chicago last week, the Chicago Sun-Times and the Chicago Tribune gave the demonstrators front-page coverage. The TABD was a meeting between 350 corporate CEOs and government officials from the United States and Europe. Human rights activists, labor union members, anarchists, and many other progressive activists all met to demonstrate in the streets of Chicago. Protestors gathered in Chicago to confront the un-democratic, closed-door meetings of the corporate executives. Many Americans view these meeting as un-democratic in a free society because the meetings are closed to average citizens. In a free society, all citizens should have the right to attend meetings where public policy is determined. The acts in Chicago were those of a population that continually finds itself marginalized and left out of important national policy decisions. Many people feel their only option is to take to the streets and directly confront the corporate and government criminals who carve this country up amongst themselves to the detriment of the American public. [Full Article]

Avoid Teaching Native American Stereotypes

November is Native American Heritage Month and generally it is the time when young children's conceptions about Native Americans develop out of media portrayals of the "First Thanksgiving." If you ask children what they know about "Indians" they will associate it with Thanksgiving activities or lesson plans. If a teacher associates Native Americans with holidays like Columbus Day or Thanksgiving, it makes children believe that Native Americans do not exist. Children often only know negative stereotypes of Native Americans because they are so heavily displayed in books and media. They perceive "Indians" as blood-thirsty savages or uncivilized animals that are less than human. One example: just rent the original Walt Disney Peter Pan cartoon or read the children's book, Brother Eagle, Sister Sky, where Chief Seattle of the Squamish tribe is illustrated as a member of the Plains tribe. [Full Article]

Manifest Destiny in the Mid East

How long did it take for the U.S., on the whole, to realize it was wrong to rob and kill the Native Americans who rightfully owned this land? About 200 years. And we're not talking about a little wrongdoing, a footnote of history, we're talking MASS genocide the likes of which have never been seen in history. An entire race all but wiped out.

And it still took nearly 200 years to admit that it was wrong. Europeans marched in here and took whatever they could, they signed treaties with the natives only to break them a few years later, they used superior weapons to destroy forces that outnumbered them, they exploited the real Americans, snatched up all the good land and left the natives mere scraps, living in poverty.

Why did it take so long for one of the greatest injustices in the history of mankind to be fully acknowledged as such? And what does this tell us about ourselves? Is it possible to learn from history before it's too late? Apparently not, because the same pattern of European dominance, religious supremacism, racism and treaty-breaking is going on right now in what is now called Israel, and if it takes 200 years to realize the shame of America's methods, how long will it take to realize the shame of Israel's? [Full Article]

David Rees Gets Your War On

If you haven't heard of Get Your War On, then you probably haven't been reading the Indy. Welcome to your first issue. There's usually a GYWO comic on the second page. This issue contains this focus article because David Rees, the comic's author, will visit ISU on November 26 at 3pm in the Bone Student Center Circus Room to read from his new Get Your War On collection. He will also show slides, sign (and sell) copies of his book, and present a short video on what's being done to eliminate the worldwide crisis caused by landmines (a crisis largely caused by the U.S. military).

Rees, a New York City office temp, began posting his Get Your War On strips online one month after September 11. Emails quickly passed the URL across the Internet, and even mainstream new sources, like NPR, Rolling Stone, and Newsweek (Newsweek?!), have by now run articles. [Full Article]