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Fowl Play
By Robert Jensen / November 19, 2007
After years of being constantly annoyed and often angry about the historical denial built into Thanksgiving Day, I published an essay in November 2005 suggesting we replace the feasting with fasting and create a National Day of Atonement to acknowledge the genocide of indigenous people that is central to the creation of the United States. I expected criticism from right-wing and centrist people, given their common commitment to this country's distorted self-image that supports the triumphalist/supremacist notions about the United States so common in conventional politics, and I got plenty of such critique. But I was surprised by the resistance from liberals — even some on the left, including a considerable number of my friends. The most common argument went something like this: OK, it's true that the Thanksgiving Day mythology is rooted in a fraudulent story — about the European invaders coming in peace to the "New World," eager to cooperate with indigenous people — which conveniently ignores the reality of European barbarism in the conquest of the continent. But we can reject the culture's self-congratulatory attempts to rewrite history, I have been told, and come together on Thanksgiving to celebrate the love and connections among family and friends. The argument that we can ignore the collective cultural definition of Thanksgiving and create our own meaning in private has always struck me as odd. This commitment to Thanksgiving puts these left/radical critics in the position of internalizing one of the central messages promoted by the ideologues of capitalism — that individual behavior in private is more important than collective action in public. The claim that through private action we can create our own reality is one of the key tenets of a predatory corporate capitalism that naturalizes unjust hierarchy, a part of the overall project of discouraging political struggle and encouraging us to retreat into a private realm where life is defined by consumption. So this November, rather than mount another attack on the national mythology around Thanksgiving — a mythology that amounts to a kind of holocaust denial, and which has been critiqued for many years by many people — I want to explore why so many who understand and accept this critique still celebrate Thanksgiving, and why rejecting such celebrations sparks such controversy. Once We Know, What Do We Do? At this point in history, anyone who wants to know this reality of U.S. history — that the extermination of indigenous peoples was, both in a technical legal sense and in common usage, genocide — can easily find the resources to know. If this idea is new, I would recommend two books, David E. Stannard's American Holocaust: Columbus and the Conquest of the New World and Ward Churchill's A Little Matter of Genocide. While the concept of genocide, which is defined as the deliberate attempt "to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group," came into existence after World War II, it accurately describes the program that Europeans and their descendants pursued to acquire the territory that would become the United States of America. Once we know that, what do we do? The moral response — that is, the response that would be consistent with the moral values around justice and equality that most of us claim to hold — would be a truth-and-reconciliation process that would not only correct the historical record but also redistribute land and wealth. Such a process is hard to imagine in the short term. So, the question for left/radical people is: What political activity can we engage in to keep alive this kind of critique until a time when social conditions might make a truly progressive politics possible? In short: Once we know, what do we do in a world that is not yet ready to know, or knows but will not deal with the consequences of that knowledge? The general answer to that question is simple, though often difficult to put into practice: We must keep speaking honestly, as often as possible, in as many venues as possible. We must resist the conventional wisdom. We must reject the cultural amnesia. We must refuse to be polite when politeness means capitulation to lies. I have not always been strong enough to meet even these basic moral obligations. Most of us in positions of unearned privilege and power would be wise to avoid pontificating about our moral superiority and political courage, given our routine failures. Can any of us not point to moments when we went along to get along? Have any of us done enough to bring our lives in line with the values we claim to hold? Still, we need to help each other tell the truth, even when the truth is not welcome.
The Illusion of Redefining Thanksgiving Imagine that Germany won World War II and that a Nazi regime endured for some decades, eventually giving way to a more liberal state with a softer version of German-supremacist ideology. Imagine that a century later, Germans celebrated a holiday offering a whitewashed version of German/Jewish history that ignored that holocaust and the deep anti-Semitism of the culture. Imagine that the holiday provided a welcomed time for families and friends to gather and enjoy food and conversation. Imagine that businesses, schools and government offices closed on this day. What would we say about such a holiday? Would we not question the distortions woven into such a celebration? Would we not demand a more accurate historical account? Would we not, in fact, denounce such a holiday as grotesque? Now, imagine that left/liberal Germans — those who were critical of the power structure that created that distorted history and who in other settings would challenge the political uses of those distortions — put aside their critique and celebrated the holiday with their fellow citizens, claiming to ignore the meaning of the holiday created by the dominant culture. What would we say about such people? Would we not question their commitment to the principles they claim to hold? Would we not demand a more courageous politics? Comparisons to the Nazis are routinely overused and typically hyperbolic, but this is directly analogous. These are fair, albeit painful, questions for all of us. Left/liberals who want to claim they are rejecting that European-supremacist and racist use of Thanksgiving and "redefining" the holiday in private clearly avoid the obvious: We don't define holidays individually — the idea of a holiday is rooted in its collective, shared meaning. When the dominant culture defines a holiday in a certain fashion, one can't pretend to redefine it in private. One either accepts the dominant definition or resists it, publicly and privately. Of course people often struggle for control over the meaning of symbols and holidays, but typically we engage in such battles when we believe there is some positive aspect of the symbol or holiday worth fighting for. For example, Christians — some of whom believe that Christmas should focus on the values of universal love and world peace rather than on orgiastic consumption — may resist that commercialization and argue in public and private for a different approach to the holiday. Those people typically continue to celebrate Christmas, but in ways consistent with those values. In that case, people are trying to recover and/or reinforce something that they believe is positive because of values rooted in a historical tradition. Those folks struggle over the meaning of Christmas because they believe the core of Christianity is experienced through the people we touch, not the products we purchase. In that endeavor, Christians are arguing the culture has gone astray and lost the positive historical grounding of the holiday. But what is positive in the historical events that define Thanksgiving? What tradition are we trying to return to? I have no quarrel with designating a day (or days) that would allow people to take a break from our often manic work routines and appreciate the importance of community, encouraging all of us to be grateful for what we have. But if that is the goal, why yoke it to Thanksgiving Day and a history of celebrating European/white dominance and conquest? Trying to transform Thanksgiving Day into a true day of thanksgiving, it seems to me, is possible only by letting go of this holiday, not by remaining rooted in it. If there were a major shift in the culture and a majority of people could confront these historical realities, perhaps the last Thursday in November could be so transformed. But that shift and transformation are, to say the least, not yet here. For too long, I ignored these troubling questions. To get along, I went along. I buried my concerns to avoid making trouble. But in recent years that has become more difficult. So, this year I want to acknowledge my past failures to raise these issues and commit not only to renouncing Thanksgiving publicly but also to refusing to participate in any celebration of it privately.
Make People Comfortable by Engaging or by Disengaging Obviously there are people in the United States — indigenous and otherwise — who do not celebrate Thanksgiving or who mark it, in private and/or in public, as a day of mourning. Also obvious is that there are people who may not have a family or community with which they celebrate such holidays; it's important to remember that there are people on such holidays who are alone and/or lonely, and to them these political questions may seem irrelevant. But for those of us who do get invited to traditional Thanksgiving Day dinners, how do we remain true to our stated political and moral principles? I think we have two choices. We can go to the Thanksgiving gatherings put on by friends and family, determined to raise these issues and willing to take the risk of alienating those who want to enjoy the day without politics. Or, we can refuse to go to such a gathering and make it known why we're not attending, which means taking the risk of alienating those who want to enjoy the day without politics. This year, I've decided to disengage and explain why to the people who invited me. These are people I love, yet who have made a different decision. My love for them has not diminished, and I trust the conversation with them about this and other political/moral questions will continue. Once I make that decision, of course I also have the option of participating in a public event that resists Thanksgiving. I'm not aware of one happening in my community, and because of commitments to other political projects I didn't feel I could organize an effective event in time for this Thanksgiving Day. But on the assumption that others may feel this way, I have started thinking about what kind of public gathering could make such a political statement effectively, and in the future I hope to find others who are interested in such an event locally. So, what will I do on Thanksgiving Day this year? I'll probably spend part of the day alone. Maybe I'll take a long walk and think about all this. I'll try to be kind and decent to the people I bump into during the day. I'll miss the company of friends and family who are gathering, and I'll try to reflect on why I've made this choice and why this question matters to me. I'll think about why others made the choices they made. But this year, whatever I do, I won't celebrate Thanksgiving. I'm going to let that parade pass me by.
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Ok JewcyCraig.
I am enjoying these conversations. No jibe intended with the Marxist comment. The Jibe was the Borg statement. Maybe you're not a Trekkie. When I am typing these comments I need to type them quick so my thought pattern is not always clear. What I was doing was making a connection with a system of thought that the USA fought against. I do not have a problem with communal living. I have a problem with a forced system of thoughts imposed on people. Communism and Marxist beliefs were forced on millions of people. They told their people where and how to live by force and sent millions to the grave who did not conform to that thought. Indians have never had a religious or political war where they forced their beliefs on others. Being a member of a tribe is voluntary. The way Marxism was expressed last century was not voluntary. Living Tribal where family is sacred is not Marxism where family was to be replaced by the state.
Your suggestion of everything will be fine for Indians as soon as they leave their land is an old argument that Indians have heard for the last 400 years. Every time a smiling Anglo came to shake their hands saying they were there to help them, the Indian has lost more and more. This country continues to tell Indians to leave their land and all will be ok. Let me explain a few issues step by step so maybe we will all have a clearer understanding of why Indians do not want to leave their land.
1st. Their Religion is Land Based. They are connected to their land. Judism is tied to Israel. Asking an Indian to leave his land is like telling Jews to leave Israel. Will problems end for Jews if Israel is given to the Muslims?
2nd. Living on a reservation doesn't make one poor. The Seminole Tribe never made a peace treaty with the US government. They kept their resources. They fly around in private jets. They own the entire Hard Rock Cafe chain. They own many of the hotels in Miami. They have cattle ranches and orange groves. Every tribe that made a treaty with the US Government were impoverished by those treaties. Those treaties were like this: "Sign this or die." Like I said before, we take the water, the timber, the minerals, and leave them dust. Indians do not have a problem with capitalism, they have a problem with injustice.
3rd The United Nations declared the rights that Indigenous people have. http://www.un.org/esa/socdev/unpfii/ 121 countries voted for it. 4 countries voted against it. Those who voted against it were Canada, New Zealand, Australia, and the USA, the four countries that continue to take the resources from reservation land leaving Indians dust. Sort of like the British taking the harvest from Ireland and leaving rotting potatoes for the Irish. Indians just want what is theirs.
4th American Indians are citizens of the US government, they can vote, they have served in every war we have fought. They love this country, but we make them jump through all kinds of hoops to even say they exist. Do Jews have to carry a blood quantum card to prove they are Jewish or the Scottish a Clan member card to say they are Scottish? We deny them their right to practice their religion if they do not have that blood quantum card. America, the land of Religious freedom, not for Indians. This effects Indians whether they live on the reservation or not. But if the Indians leave their land, loosing their land base, then they loose their need for a tribal government. Once that tribal government is disbanded, then they stop being legally Indians and they become extinct. What other ethnic group becomes extinct because they do not participate in the political process of their group? There are Indians like the Abenaki, the Nipmuc, and Lumbee which the US government says do not exist, not because they are not Native, but because the narrow way the Government lawyers have interpreted what constitutes a tribal government. There are Abenaki on reservations in Quebec. There are bands of Abenaki in Vermont, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, and Maine, but all of those people the Feds say are extinct because their tribal government disbanded into family clans in order to survive such things as the Forced sterilization of Abenaki women in Vermont in the 1930-40's. They hid to survive oppression, but they are still in New England and they are still Indian. Washington declares, they are extinct. Bumper Stickers in Vermont declare, "Funny I don't feel Extinct".
5th there are more Indians living off of the reservation in urban centers than on reservations and they face a culture that makes them invisible. We make mascots out of them like the Cleveland Indians and call that honoring them. We name cars after them and call that honoring them. Where is the Jersey Jews baseball team, or the Ford Torah Sudan? Our vocabulary is full of derogatory insults towards them. We call people Indian Givers (Thieves) and we experience Indian Summer (False Summer). We insult workers who are late as persons on Indian Time. I was late because I have an Indian Car (a car that does not work) etc. The difference between us and them is that we have lawyers that would jump all over anything Anti-Semitic in a nano second. The city where I live said the school mascot was racist and insulting, but not enough people were being insulted. There are 10,000 Natives in the area, how many more people need to be insulted for them to change the mascot? (FYI: Only the Seminoles were asked if it was ok to use their name for a sports team. Maybe because they have money and lawyers people were polite to the Seminoles.)
6th I could go on, but I need to go. The last thing I wanted to say is that the fire that burned the La Jolla Reservation was an arson fire that started on that reservation. Calls were made to the fire department. They never showed. The fire swept the reservation, but the trucks were not there to stop it. They were waiting for it down the road at those mansions. Two other arson fires were started on two other reservations in that same area last month. The FBI was called to investigate this as a hate crime. Indians are not holding their breath. There are 186,000 Natives living on and off of the reservations between San Diago and Los Angeles. There were many Indians that stood side by side fighting that fire with the greater community. Indians want to know why those towns which they helped defend this time and the past, did not respond in a timely manner when it was Indian land. If a reservation is too small to have its own fire department, the local towns are to respond just like they do for small towns that do not have their own fire department. Isn't it American to help a neighbor?
There are many issues facing Indians. Suggesting to an the First Nations People that they should walk away from their land base doesn't solve the injustice or racism. Oh by the way, many of the sky scrapers in NYC were built by Mohawk Steel workers who lived on a rez and commuted to NYC to work. Indians are hard workers on and off the Rez and will work for a Fee.
Hey there is a book that covers some of these issues if you get bored talking to me. It is called, "Killing the White Man's Indian," by Fergus Bordewich
Have a nice Sabbath,
Ride the Heights
Shalom,
After reading the responses to this Blog, I am asking myself why all this angry hateful speech? These comments are the exact responses that Mr. Jensen was talking about. Of all the ethnic groups Jews should be standing side by side with American Indians as they fight for justice, respect, and historical truth.
I spent the day at Plymouth, Massachusetts this year fasting and praying with my Native friends instead of being home partaking in an excuse for over eating and drinking. I was there because the issues that have faced Native Americans are still current today and no one wants to look at what Republicans and Democrats have both participated in till this day. I'll give you just a few examples of how the acts of American Genocide towards American Indians continues today while we sit at our HD TV's watching Football.
The American Holocaust did not happen as efficiently as the Nazis. The Government only exterminated and displaced Indians when they were ready for the next land grab.
Military actions against Native Americans stopped not because we suddenly became less racist in this country, but because it was costing Washington DC 1 Million Dollars to kill each Indian. Since it was too costly to pay the military to shoot, and burn, and pass out Small Pox blankets to Indians, they created a different program for genocide which in many ways continues today. First read the legal definition of Genocide to see that Genocide is continuing in Indian country today.
The international legal
definition of the crime of genocide is found in Articles II and III
of the 1948 Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of Genocide.
Article II describes two elements of the
crime of genocide:
"Article II: In
the present Convention, genocide means any of the following acts committed
with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnic, racial
or religious group, as such:
(a) Killing members of the group;
(b) Causing serious bodily or mental harm to members of the group;
(c) Deliberately inflicting on the group conditions of life calculated
to bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part;
(d) Imposing measures intended to prevent births within the group;
(e) Forcibly transferring children of the group to another group.
Here are a few historic and current facts for the readers who have attacked Mr. Jensen.
NO MONEY= NO CIVIL RIGHTS FOR INDIANS: Civil Rights lawyers have historically stayed away from Indian cases because, as one lawyer told me, "There is no money in it."
WE KILLED THEM: Wounded Knee, Ft. Robinson, Camp Grant, Marias, Sand Creek, Washita River, Keyesville, Beaver River, Tonkawa, Gunther Island, Kaibai Creek, Bloody Island, Mystic River, and Deer Island massacres. (This is not a complete list by far. But I think you get the picture.
WE USED GERM WARFARE AGAINST THEM: We found it more efficient to expose them to small pox and TB than chase them with calvary.
WE IMPOVERISH THEM: We give Indians land that is worthless and remote that outside businesses do not want to open up. Pine Ridge Reservation is poorer than Haiti.
WE CONTINUE TO STEAL FROM THEM: The US Government wrote the treaties so that Indians have no mineral rights to coal, oil, uranium, gold, etc. on Indian land.
WE DON'T EVEN LEAVE THEM WATER: Sante Fe, NM needed more water for their lawns and golf courses, so there are 70,000 Navaho who do not have any water anymore. 70,000 United States Citizens whose water has been stolen.
WE GIVE THEM ALCOHOL INSTEAD: We build our bars right on the borders of reservations. We can make some money while we destroy the people.
WE GIVE THEM OUR TRASH INSTEAD: When San Diego needed more water for their lawns and golf courses,
they took it from the Indian Reservations, San Diego then put their
garbage on the Reservation. Presto, Indian landfill!
WE LET CRIMINALS CONTINUE THE WORK FOR FREE: Indians can't convict Non-Natives of Felonies, thus Reservations are a magnet for pedophiles and rapists, and murderers. Even if they get caught, they walk!
WE STEAL THEIR CHILDREN: After we stopped shooting Indians, we took their children away to boarding schools to kill the language and culture. Today the Foster Care system continue to hold a disproportionate amount of First Nations children in the system, and when they are adopted out, it is to non-Indian families.
GENOCIDE WAS NOT ONLY A EUROPEAN VALUE: While we were fighting Hitler in Europe, eugenic laws were being passed here in the USA. The state of Vermont passed their law in 1931 which resulted in the forcible sterilization of Abenaki women. In order to protect themselves the Abenaki started calling themselves Gypsies instead of Indians. These eugenic laws can be found in 24 of the 50 states. Sterilization of Native women peaked in the 1970's. Various modes were utilized to get this result including high powered X-rays on children. Ever wonder why Indian population doesn't seem to grow?
WE ASSASSINATE THEIR LEADERS: We remember Martin Luther King because he was assassinated, but what about the 70 leaders of the American Indian Movement who were assassinated in the 1970's by roving cars of "Goons". Three Indians finally fired back killing 2 of these "Goons" which turned out to be 2 FBI agents. Two of those men were found innocent during their trial because they were defending themselves against armed attackers. The third one hiding in Canada got a second messy trail and was given life for the same incident. Amnesty International continues to petition the US government to give Leonard Peltier a fair trial. He is considered a political prisoner.
WE POISON THEIR LAND: The Largest Nuclear Accident happened on Indian land. It only became a Super Fund cleanup site when White Ranchers started to complain their cattle were dying.
I could go on. Why are we continuing to do this to Native Americans? It is to America's monetary benefit to make Indians disappear, because if the government admits to its 350 broken treaties, it will loose money. Because there is no money for us if Indians continue to hold land that we want to develop. There is no money for us if Indians are content not being assimilated into our self centered consumerist culture where true happiness is found at BEST BUY and WALMART. In order for our economy to grow, those Natives must Go!
So until the people who scream equal rights and justice and truth in this country call this nation to account for the CURRENT abuses and murder of Indigenous people in this land, and tell the truth about the past, I will continue to fast with my Native People on Thanksgiving. By the way, I will be fasting with my Jewish friends on Tisha B'Av also.
One last thought, why do people want Indians to just forget and move on from the past, when those same forces want us to forget the holocaust also? Just wondering.
I'd Rather be Historically Accurate, Than Politically Correct.
Shalom,
Ride the Heights!
Isaiah. "Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen: to loose the chains of injustice and untie the cords of the yoke, to set the oppressed free and break every yoke? Is it not to share your food with the hungry and to provide the poor wanderer with shelter— when you see the naked, to clothe him, and not to turn away from your own flesh and blood? Then your light will break forth like the dawn, and your healing will quickly appear; then your righteousness will go before you, and the glory of the LORD will be your rear guard. Then you will call, and the LORD will answer; you will cry for help, and he will say: Here am I."
Eloquent and beautifully composed. Not only do I completely agree with you, but I find myself jealous of your ability to express it all. Thanks.
Thank you, thank you, thank you.
Oh yeah–Amen and Testify, too.
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