Being aware of how many horrific acts my race has committed, it is difficult to celebrate almost any holiday. Racism, broken promises, genocide, destruction of habitats, human trafficking, slavery and now this president elect AGAIN.
If I think about it too much, it disables me. So I give thanks every day and try to protect,support, be a voice and get justice and equality for those who don't have it. That is how we must give thanks.
So I live in New Mexico, among many indigenous people, and am grateful to be here among them and to learn from these ancient cultures. I was surprised to see this year that the Indian Pueblo Cultural Center in Albuquerque was serving a Thanksgiving meal at its restaurant, which celebrates Native cooking. I am not sure how to understand it but wanted to share that there might be nonbinary ways to understand this story. I'm not sure. Sending everyone love. This is not meant to be contrary or provocative. I am simply curious.https://indianpueblo.org/event/indian-pueblo-kitchens-thanksgiving-feast/
I don't want to diminish the thoughts about this land's indigenous people or what we did to them. I do want to point out that Thanksgiving was first conceived by northern state governors during the Civil War to give thanks for the sacrifices of the soldiers. It was quite popular and after a year Lincoln declared a national holiday, again to honor the sacrifices of the Union soldiers and later the success of keeping our country together and abolishing slavery. Not being an historian, I don't know when it got coopted into the Pilgrims and Indians story.
A thousand thanks for this from Brisbane, Australia, where we also live on the stolen land of Aboriginal people. People who lived on and cared for this country for more than 70,000 years. Yet who still have to fight for sovereignty, for the dignity of proper health and education for all their people— for OUR education about them — and for good housing. For proper recognition. Yes there are excellent books but, even though I'm a writer, I can say that isn't enough.
Last year my husband and I vowed to not celebrate and instead rename it Harvest Day. The comments and snarky remarks of our choice were not ideal. We even taught my in laws some of the realities of the genocide... So we refer to the holiday as Harvest Day but still attend family gatherings. I also decorate straight from Halloween to Christmas because why am I going to decorate with little pilgrims?? The f*** ?? Anyways our step is a small step and I enjoyed reading your take on it.
Neko, I just finished reading your book, and I am in tears; it was amazing. As soon as I put it down I found your substack and began poking through. So much of what I’ve read/consumed lately has relayed variations of this: our culture is broken, we fix it by relating, listening, connecting with other humans and the Earth, by caring and tending and helping; by telling true and thick stories; by regaining the empathy, curiosity, and wonder we had as children; by heeding the wisdom of Indigenous people and of nature. And here even your memoir concludes with this message, and this essay underscores it while offering the guiding light of Robin Wall Kimmerer. Oh my heart, it is all converging. Despite all the horrors, I sense that so many of us are learning and preparing, about to rise up and build a better future. Thank you so much for your stories and wisdom 💗
The shivering blackbird under your window knows not of the genocide perpetrated upon its ancestors. Even though, “it cannot explain its life”; love that line. Unlike animals, we by some salvation have knowledge of these wrongs. Yet, I keep seeing figures that say people go along seventy percent of the time. The other thirty percent are pulling the strings. The avarice of these thirty compels them in some socio-pathological manor, not have a care for whom they harm. Antiquities children of mother earth, knew not of the eye in the pyramid. Nor the birth its patriarchal sibling. Destined to institutionalize tragedy, on all that exists, in the name of empire. In difference toward peaceful existence is it's mantra and be dammed to all that resist. The indigenous people could hardly organize against the indoctrinated pilgrims. Who were hoping to escape the tyranny of nobility. Like pawns they carried the indoctrinated seed of destruction. The indigenous life, so close to the mother of humanity, initially thought it unconscionable to consider their own genocide. Yet their own tribal conflicts belied the messenger of doom. Appearing only as a dream of birds in the night, yet it was real.
I hope the descendants of Alfred Hitchcock's extras didn’t follow you home from Portland. Just kidding. Maybe we should remake “The Birds” with a new twist.
Robin Kimmerer said that we must seek joy over despair. True, but my conflict has always been with those that avoid reality with a mask of joyfulness unknowingly avoiding real happiness. Their masters use thought controlling cliche's, just to ease their cognitive dissonance. Ultimately, choosing happiness over joyfulness seems more correct, but that means accepting some suffering. Hopefully by choice, not subjectivity, or demand of the state.
Once a study suggested that the survivors of lost colony of Roanoke should still be detectable in DNA of the indigenous people around coastal Carolina. Yet the practices of patriarchy doomed the study by its projection of the one-man one-woman concept from the beginning. This paring is the illusion of patriarchal invention. Simply so fathers would know who their sons were. I'll will probably be doomed by the illuminati for revealing this. The indigenous people of that time, and area, were matriarchal. Traders mentioned the existence of villages every eight to twelve miles. Upon arrival they were considered by the women as potential lovers. Men of the tribe had no say. So, the projection of the one man, one woman on the project, as a societal construct, by any measure. Failed from its inception.
Given Indigenous tribal clans had long since disbursed. There were no patrilineal lines to follow back, without the existence of a specific test subject. DNA revels our personal history by the Y-chromosome genetic construct of YX for sons, and X-chromosome of XX for daughters. That means the daughter is her mother’s X, and her father’s mothers X combined. Dividing back the female tree will only go back about 6-7 generations before less than one percent remains for matching to relatives. It's possible to autosomally compare sister sibling branches as members of the same family, but not to directly show one's own greater foremothers. That explains not showing indigenous blood in my tree. Though family legend and picture of a great grandmothers’ daughter seemed to indicate such. Nor does DNA get divided evenly. Hopefully research of new techniques will prove this view limited in the future. Seems funny how even DNA can be used as a construct of patrilineal reasoning. Though, it's intuitively evident that the feminine keeps us grounded to mother earth and focused on a loving existence. After all, the center of the universe is not in the great beyond, but there with you, in your womb. Without it the universe does not exist.
Seems unlikely that we will ever be free of the delusions of power. Somehow recognizing it and demanding some form of order has provided the control mechanism by which moniachal aspirations are kept in check. The poor Palestinian people of Gaza/W. Bank have lost this, or never had it to begin with. We at least have some notion of control by forcing separating church and state. They have none. Which has allowed Hamas to gain control. Insisting on Islamic interpretation as rule. Hamas appears to be using uncontrolled ultra violence, but they are also practicing asymmetric warfare to gain mind share through world pity. Even if it's at the expense of their own people. Incredibly sick isn't it. Actually, before the state of Israel, all peoples in that area were considered Palestinian. Even the Jews and Christians, but that's another discussion. Just like the N. Vietnamese tactic during the 1968 TET offensive. Hamas will deliberately take enormous casualties in order to create sympathy for their cause. Masking the fact they are monstrous by killing their own. The TET offensive was a military failure for the communists, but the American youth were so offended by the war they created the perception of defeat. Truthfully, neither was right. The Iranian influence in Gaza and Lebanon is attempting the same coup by alienating the American public. No government that exists by religious control is worthy. They are all of the devil.
Have you ever noticed. The media narratives are not of solutions, but of that which generates more confusing dissonance intended to lead us into obedience. .....And now my friends we must all migrate to the moon and beyond. In order to fulfill the particular version of destiny cast upon you by the pyramids eye.
--Lou Caudell
You and yours are precious. Your holiday a delight of swollen harts rising in concert.
"Young and free too tough to cry" Iggy Pop "New Values"
The Serviceberry by Robin Wall Kimmerer is also excellent.
I haven't read it yet. I'm saving it like a scrumptious dessert :)
I read this article on Jain Americans turning thanksgiving into a reflection of their faith. Really lovely. https://religionnews.com/2024/11/27/jain-americans-infuse-thanksgiving-with-ahimsa-celebrating-gratitude-through-nonviolence/
Being aware of how many horrific acts my race has committed, it is difficult to celebrate almost any holiday. Racism, broken promises, genocide, destruction of habitats, human trafficking, slavery and now this president elect AGAIN.
If I think about it too much, it disables me. So I give thanks every day and try to protect,support, be a voice and get justice and equality for those who don't have it. That is how we must give thanks.
So I live in New Mexico, among many indigenous people, and am grateful to be here among them and to learn from these ancient cultures. I was surprised to see this year that the Indian Pueblo Cultural Center in Albuquerque was serving a Thanksgiving meal at its restaurant, which celebrates Native cooking. I am not sure how to understand it but wanted to share that there might be nonbinary ways to understand this story. I'm not sure. Sending everyone love. This is not meant to be contrary or provocative. I am simply curious.https://indianpueblo.org/event/indian-pueblo-kitchens-thanksgiving-feast/
I hear you! There are many ways to do it. Not contrary at all. Just part of the "witnessing." Thanks for this.
Thanks, Bonnie, for sharing. I am always glad to hear yes/and.
I don't want to diminish the thoughts about this land's indigenous people or what we did to them. I do want to point out that Thanksgiving was first conceived by northern state governors during the Civil War to give thanks for the sacrifices of the soldiers. It was quite popular and after a year Lincoln declared a national holiday, again to honor the sacrifices of the Union soldiers and later the success of keeping our country together and abolishing slavery. Not being an historian, I don't know when it got coopted into the Pilgrims and Indians story.
https://heathercoxrichardson.substack.com/p/november-27-2024
&
https://heathercoxrichardson.substack.com/p/november-28-2019
I just wrote both you and Drew a thank you reply with lots of other info but it didn't show up. Hmmmmmm
Heather was my source. I read her letter every day.
Oh, also, I would be happy to buy you a generator, I hate to think of you and Coco shivering in the dark. Let me know.
It's what every girl dreams of hearing!
A thousand thanks for this from Brisbane, Australia, where we also live on the stolen land of Aboriginal people. People who lived on and cared for this country for more than 70,000 years. Yet who still have to fight for sovereignty, for the dignity of proper health and education for all their people— for OUR education about them — and for good housing. For proper recognition. Yes there are excellent books but, even though I'm a writer, I can say that isn't enough.
I am one of the many Aussie "woke" who boycott "Australia Day" or as I prefer to say Invasion Day.
Jenny and I attend a smoking ceremony on the land of the Kaurna people. It is a small act of recognition of a land never ceded and stolen.
As always the whining and moaning from privileged mouths is sickening.
May the dogs keep you warm and toasty.
Ninna Marni Neko.
Last year my husband and I vowed to not celebrate and instead rename it Harvest Day. The comments and snarky remarks of our choice were not ideal. We even taught my in laws some of the realities of the genocide... So we refer to the holiday as Harvest Day but still attend family gatherings. I also decorate straight from Halloween to Christmas because why am I going to decorate with little pilgrims?? The f*** ?? Anyways our step is a small step and I enjoyed reading your take on it.
“The more I learn about people, the more I like my dog.” - Mark Twain
You probably know the music of Mali Obamsawin and her band Deerlady (featured in Reservation Dogs). Highly recommend to all. ❤️
Sweet Coco. Enjoy your beautiful snowy time off in VT.
Sending a boop to Coco.
I encourage everyone to check out the music, the art, the poetry, the stories of/by John Trudell.
Neko, I just finished reading your book, and I am in tears; it was amazing. As soon as I put it down I found your substack and began poking through. So much of what I’ve read/consumed lately has relayed variations of this: our culture is broken, we fix it by relating, listening, connecting with other humans and the Earth, by caring and tending and helping; by telling true and thick stories; by regaining the empathy, curiosity, and wonder we had as children; by heeding the wisdom of Indigenous people and of nature. And here even your memoir concludes with this message, and this essay underscores it while offering the guiding light of Robin Wall Kimmerer. Oh my heart, it is all converging. Despite all the horrors, I sense that so many of us are learning and preparing, about to rise up and build a better future. Thank you so much for your stories and wisdom 💗
The shivering blackbird under your window knows not of the genocide perpetrated upon its ancestors. Even though, “it cannot explain its life”; love that line. Unlike animals, we by some salvation have knowledge of these wrongs. Yet, I keep seeing figures that say people go along seventy percent of the time. The other thirty percent are pulling the strings. The avarice of these thirty compels them in some socio-pathological manor, not have a care for whom they harm. Antiquities children of mother earth, knew not of the eye in the pyramid. Nor the birth its patriarchal sibling. Destined to institutionalize tragedy, on all that exists, in the name of empire. In difference toward peaceful existence is it's mantra and be dammed to all that resist. The indigenous people could hardly organize against the indoctrinated pilgrims. Who were hoping to escape the tyranny of nobility. Like pawns they carried the indoctrinated seed of destruction. The indigenous life, so close to the mother of humanity, initially thought it unconscionable to consider their own genocide. Yet their own tribal conflicts belied the messenger of doom. Appearing only as a dream of birds in the night, yet it was real.
I hope the descendants of Alfred Hitchcock's extras didn’t follow you home from Portland. Just kidding. Maybe we should remake “The Birds” with a new twist.
Robin Kimmerer said that we must seek joy over despair. True, but my conflict has always been with those that avoid reality with a mask of joyfulness unknowingly avoiding real happiness. Their masters use thought controlling cliche's, just to ease their cognitive dissonance. Ultimately, choosing happiness over joyfulness seems more correct, but that means accepting some suffering. Hopefully by choice, not subjectivity, or demand of the state.
Once a study suggested that the survivors of lost colony of Roanoke should still be detectable in DNA of the indigenous people around coastal Carolina. Yet the practices of patriarchy doomed the study by its projection of the one-man one-woman concept from the beginning. This paring is the illusion of patriarchal invention. Simply so fathers would know who their sons were. I'll will probably be doomed by the illuminati for revealing this. The indigenous people of that time, and area, were matriarchal. Traders mentioned the existence of villages every eight to twelve miles. Upon arrival they were considered by the women as potential lovers. Men of the tribe had no say. So, the projection of the one man, one woman on the project, as a societal construct, by any measure. Failed from its inception.
Given Indigenous tribal clans had long since disbursed. There were no patrilineal lines to follow back, without the existence of a specific test subject. DNA revels our personal history by the Y-chromosome genetic construct of YX for sons, and X-chromosome of XX for daughters. That means the daughter is her mother’s X, and her father’s mothers X combined. Dividing back the female tree will only go back about 6-7 generations before less than one percent remains for matching to relatives. It's possible to autosomally compare sister sibling branches as members of the same family, but not to directly show one's own greater foremothers. That explains not showing indigenous blood in my tree. Though family legend and picture of a great grandmothers’ daughter seemed to indicate such. Nor does DNA get divided evenly. Hopefully research of new techniques will prove this view limited in the future. Seems funny how even DNA can be used as a construct of patrilineal reasoning. Though, it's intuitively evident that the feminine keeps us grounded to mother earth and focused on a loving existence. After all, the center of the universe is not in the great beyond, but there with you, in your womb. Without it the universe does not exist.
Seems unlikely that we will ever be free of the delusions of power. Somehow recognizing it and demanding some form of order has provided the control mechanism by which moniachal aspirations are kept in check. The poor Palestinian people of Gaza/W. Bank have lost this, or never had it to begin with. We at least have some notion of control by forcing separating church and state. They have none. Which has allowed Hamas to gain control. Insisting on Islamic interpretation as rule. Hamas appears to be using uncontrolled ultra violence, but they are also practicing asymmetric warfare to gain mind share through world pity. Even if it's at the expense of their own people. Incredibly sick isn't it. Actually, before the state of Israel, all peoples in that area were considered Palestinian. Even the Jews and Christians, but that's another discussion. Just like the N. Vietnamese tactic during the 1968 TET offensive. Hamas will deliberately take enormous casualties in order to create sympathy for their cause. Masking the fact they are monstrous by killing their own. The TET offensive was a military failure for the communists, but the American youth were so offended by the war they created the perception of defeat. Truthfully, neither was right. The Iranian influence in Gaza and Lebanon is attempting the same coup by alienating the American public. No government that exists by religious control is worthy. They are all of the devil.
Have you ever noticed. The media narratives are not of solutions, but of that which generates more confusing dissonance intended to lead us into obedience. .....And now my friends we must all migrate to the moon and beyond. In order to fulfill the particular version of destiny cast upon you by the pyramids eye.
--Lou Caudell
You and yours are precious. Your holiday a delight of swollen harts rising in concert.
"Young and free too tough to cry" Iggy Pop "New Values"