As a “Welcome back!” to our Ethnic Studies class, I led a lesson on the origins and implications of celebrating the Thanksgiving holiday. The lesson addressed the roots of American land wealth in relation to the theft of indigenous land. We also talked about native genocide, treaty violations, and the continuing colonial reality of native people. We followed up with a class discussion on how these tragedies set the current conditions for native people to live in poverty, be subjected to inadequate educational institutions, the decline of native languages, and other injustices. The dialogue eventually led students to be more critical and reflect on the social inequalities and circumstances native people live with, and how a holiday like Thanksgiving can hide this part of American history.
The lessons and discussion questions were an introduction to what we will be looking deeper into during our last two weeks in Ethnic Studies. We will be seeking representatives, activists and educators of the Kumeyaay people to speak to the class about Native American history, the most pressing matters that need to be addressed within Native American communities, and what we can do to support their movements.