Indigenous peoples have a complicated relationship with Thanksgiving

By Lethbridge Herald on October 12, 2024.

Herald file photo Alvin Mills, founder of the Kii Maa Pii Pii Tsin Healing and Recovery Camp, left, along with volunteer Monte Kelman, distributes bannock sandwiches to some of the city's vulnerable in front of the Lethbridge Public Library downtown in this Herald file photo.

Alexandra Noad
REPORTER FOR THE LOCAL JOURNALISMINITIATIVE

Thanksgiving has been celebrated by settlers in Canada and the United States since the early 16th century, but many indigenous peoples have a complicated relationship with the holiday due to its colonial history.

Alvin Mills, a member of the Blood Reserve, says he wasn't always aware of Thanksgiving's colonial history.

“I didn’t know anything about the roots of Thanksgiving,” Mills said.

Mills added that indigenous cultures, including Blackfoot, believe they have always celebrated Thanksgiving, even before settlers arrived.

“We would get together, especially after the hunt, and have a party. So we probably celebrated Thanksgiving without knowing it,” Mills said.

While Thanksgiving may have good intentions, many indigenous peoples associate Thanksgiving with the theft of their land and the colonization of their people.

According to websie History.com, the first Thanksgiving was celebrated in November 1621 between pilgrims traveling from England to what would become the United States and indigenous allies of the Wampanoag tribe.

These allies were descended from Squanto, a member of the Pawtuxet tribe who was kidnapped by an English captain, sold into slavery, then fled to London and returned to his homeland.

Squanto helped show the pilgrims how to live off the land and build relationships with indigenous peoples.

This 50-year alliance was one of the few examples of harmony between indigenous people and colonists.

Mills believes that while the story is dark, Thanksgiving can be used by Indigenous peoples to build reconciliation.

“Thanksgiving is about Indigenous people recognizing that this is another aspect of reconciliation. It’s always going to be a two-way street,” Mills said.

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