Thanksgiving has always been known as a time for family and being grateful for those around you. However, the dark history of this holiday is not often talked about, except if you are Indigenous. In this video we talk with a few Indigenous persons in California about the true history of Thanksgiving.
According to the National Museum of the American Indian Thanksgiving originates from a feast held by colonial soldiers after wiping out hundreds Indegenous people, including men women and children.
“You know, gratitude is a really important part of Native American culture. It’s a thread,” Culture Bearer Rebecca Robles, said.
Construction crews at Long Beach Beach State started dumping soil and debris on the Puvungna site last September, and six Indigenous tribes have moved forward with a lawsuit against the school because of the dumping.
Many young Indigenous people have taken to social media to spread awareness of their culture and grim history associated with Thanksgiving as well as the overall history within the United States. In’yoni Felix is one of those people.
She used her platform to spread awareness of the school’s dumping and was able to explain why the Puvungna site was important to her tribe as well as other sister tribes in her short minute TikTok.
“As long as you know the real history of the holiday it’s good times…But you have to know it was a giant, giant massacre.”