I am the betrayed.
I am the betrayer.
Cardboard Pilgrims blocked an apple display, rigid sentinels of the produce and the past. How long since I associated Thanksgiving with history, or anything other than a too-tight waistband? Terra Trevor blogged it’s "... a time of mourning for ... Native People ... a reminder of 500 years of betrayal.” I was so removed from the origins of this holiday, I’d forgotten its lie. And the truth spoiled my appetite. This year when I interrupt my greed long enough to bless our cooks, I'll also bow my head in mourning. In remembrance.
I am the betrayed. I am the betrayer.
Kate Miller
11/22/2013 04:16:48 am
Great reminder of the tragedy that our abundance was built on the backs of those who may have been willing to share and co exist peacefully if we would have given them a chance.
Peg Willson
11/22/2013 07:15:06 am
I thought the Native Americans in the area found the Pilgrims building drafty log cabins on the cold, damp, windy shore of Cape Cod Bay. The Pilgrims were half starving and the Natives (Naragansetts, I think) showed them how to get wild turkeys and use corn, etc. They probably also suggested that the Pilgrims move back into the woods where it would be warmer and less windy. Cultures in collision. Peg, generosity like you’re describing is inspiring. Terra’s honesty inspires me, too. So when my Cherokee-Delaware-Seneca friend tells me she mourns on Thanksgiving, and that she feels betrayed, I’m going to take that in. I remember how bad I felt about the last time I betrayed somebody close to me, and how mad I was about the last time somebody betrayed me. Both things made me cry. It’s been my experience that when I strive toward an honest relationship with my emotions and my humanity, my world is transformed into a place where there are fewer "cultures in collision" and more cultures in collaboration. Kate, when you talk about "willing to share" it got me to thinking about the other side of that equation: times when I won't let people share and help me. I've been kind of a "hey, I ain't helpless I can do it myself" kind of person. But that actually makes me tense, so it's preventing me from co-existing peacefully with people who would help me if I gave them a chance. I guess generosity needs a place to land! 11/22/2013 07:53:44 am
We can't change history, but we can certainly be mindful of the present and alter the future. Thanks for sharing, Dawn. Carole, I don't know whether we change history or if it wasn't there in the first place. There's that game where you stand in a circle and whisper something to the person next to you and by the time it gets to the last person, it's completely different. If we can't keep the facts straight for five minutes, I'm skeptical we've kept any "facts" straight for four hundred years. So, I agree with you, all we've got for sure is mindfulness in the present. Comments are closed.
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