A Native American poet reimagines Thanksgiving

 

A Native American poet reimagines Thanksgiving (retrieved from NEWSELA)

Many schools celebrate Thanksgiving. Children stick feathers on paper bags to make Native American headdresses. They cut out patterns for black Pilgrim hats. They gather in the cafeteria. They eat a Thanksgiving "feast." Then they reenact an age-old story of Thanksgiving. It shows Native Americans and Pilgrims as happy and getting along. 

For Allison Adelle Hedge Coke, that story is a problem. Many believe the first Thanksgiving was a feast of friendship. In truth, she said, the Pilgrims tried to wipe out the Native American population.

"What were they celebrating?" Hedge Coke asks. They were celebrating their victory over the land. They were celebrating taking over the land from Native Americans. The Native peoples helped them survive. The Pilgrims were not celebrating them. They were celebrating colonization. Colonization refers to how people came from Europe, settled in America and controlled Indigenous people and their resources.

Hedge Coke is Native American. She does not celebrate the American holiday. Her father taught her about Thanksgiving. He said it was "a meal where you invite people over and they forget to go home." The colonists, or people who settled in America, never sailed back to Europe.

Justice Has Not Come Yet

For Hedge Coke, too often colonists have brushed aside blame. They said their actions were good. It allows their descendants to keep control of Native Americans for hundreds of years. It's like a bad song you can't get out of your head, she said. However, songs in the Native American culture are different. They clear paths for new ideas. Hedge Coke wrote a poem to explore her ideas. It is called "America, I Sing Back." When she wrote it, she says, she thought about America singing. She calls her poem a song for Native Americans to reclaim their past and what was taken from them.

Hedge Coke's poetry helps strengthen the Native American call for their land. She has published five books. They use Native American voices to raise awareness. After 400 years, justice still hasn't come. The traditional Thanksgiving story may be part of the delay. But some teachers have changed the way they talk about that history. They have pointed out some of the lies. 

Her poem ends with, "America, I sing back. Sing back what sung you in." She believes that the county can be healed, and kindness can find its place. America will get back its natural wonder. Native Americans will get their home.

You can read Hedge Coke's poem here.