Thanksgiving: Myths, Misinformation & Tradition

As I mentioned below, while I was excitedly preparing for my family's Thanksgiving celebration on Thursday, I printed out some, what I thought were cute coloring pages of pumpkins, cornucopias, turkeys, and Pilgrims and Indians shaking hands for the kids to scribble on while the food is being prepared. Fun, right? After absorbing some new information, I realized why the picture of the Pilgrims and Indians made me slightly uncomfortable, and I ended up putting them in the recycling box.

As I'm taking my lunch break today, I thought I'd entertain myself for a few minutes by brushing up on my Thanksgiving history. A quick search on google brought up a number of articles, and I headed here (http://www.2020tech.com/thanks/temp.html) when I saw the words, "The Plymouth Thanksgiving Story - A very informative collection of information, including some challenging observations from a Native American viewpoint." I encourage you to read some or all of it.

Challenging observations and viewpoints they are. Not because I doubt the accuracy of the information here, but because it challenges us to question what we were taught as grade school children, and the foundation for a very lovely holiday that we are about to celebrate. The fantastic thing about reading about Thanksgiving from a wider perspective is that we have the opportunity to know a bigger piece of the truth, and to share it with the next generation to the best of our ability.

I won't lie... knowing the truth... how badly the people who came to this country treated those who already had lived here for thousands of years... is not exactly fun or rosy. But its important to note that regardless of what the truth is about the Plymouth Thanksgiving, it does not take away from the spirit of the Thanksgiving that we celebrate today.

My Thanksgiving is about coming together as family and friends and loved ones, contributing to a meal that we can all enjoy together, celebrating harvest season,taking the time to outwardly say thank you for something we are grateful to have in our lives, to laugh and play, and to set the stage with a mindset of thankfulness and giving as we enter the holiday season.

I'm really, really thankful for truth and for the freedom I have in this country to seek out truth, find pieces of it, and spread it to other people. Thank you America.

Happy Thanksgiving!