© 2016 Michael Swickard, Ph.D. A caller to my radio talk show a few
years ago said, “If you had not come to North America, the Native Americans
would still be living free in a glorious land all by themselves. Shame on you
for ruining it for them.”
My first thought was: I’m old, but I
am not that old. I replied, “If Europeans had not come, Russia or another
organized culture would have conquered these tribes.”
Those North America populations
lacked a cohesive organization. Any time within a couple decades of Europeans
landing the native populations could have suddenly and thoroughly wiped out all
Europeans if they coordinated their efforts.
That way of life was doomed by the tribes
not being organized. But what was done is done. All we today can do four
hundred years later is treat those indigenous descendants fairly and with
cultural sensitivity.
Our country has been uniformly
unreliable in dealing with the indigenous populations. Most 19th Century
agreements were broken. Americans did not care. However, many of us do care now
but it is impossible to right those wrongs. I think of this each year
especially on Thanksgiving.
One thing totally American is the Thanksgiving
holiday which developed long after the Pilgrims. Most of the heavy lifting to
make this the holiday that it is goes to Abraham Lincoln. The final placement
was tied to Franklin Roosevelt in World War Two.
It’s a holiday I’ve celebrated all
my life. I am thankful that my ancestors did come to these lands. Two branches
of my family came about the same time and were in the Revolutionary War. They
were on opposite sides. But during my lifetime the two branches enjoyed
Thanksgiving… my mother and father.
Our simplistic discussion of the
“First Thanksgiving” has some aspects of truth but not a general truth.
Regardless, that was then and this is now. Many of us, myself especially, have
so much to be thankful for that a holiday focused on being thankful is perfect.
We in the 21st Century are not the
people of the past. In the last two hundred years, this nation has dealt with
most of the human rights issues that were a blight upon our nation. As such we
have a president with an African heritage and we almost elected a woman
president. We are a nation trying to be a better people.
We have stumbled a bit with the
election since it seems to have brought out the worst in some people on both
sides. I for one am very happy that it is over. Hopefully we can do some work
before we must stop and have another election.
This is the American way. In my life
thankfulness is a way of life. Much of what we have with prosperity and freedom
was paid for by other Americans. Often we never know their names but we see the
effect of them in our better lives.
One major task remains. In the
coming years, we must heal the final American wound, that of the indigenous
people. While none of those people treated so badly are still alive, the Native
Americans, as a whole, continue to not enjoy a prosperity equal to other
minorities in our nation.
How to do so is something that I do
not know. There is a need to have justice with the Native Americans in our
country. We are troubled by the word sovereignty. Are they or not? I don’t
know. We are wrong to think they should be thankful that our ancestors came and
conquered their ancestors.
But should Native Americans
celebrate thankfulness at this holiday named Thanksgiving. Absolutely, if they
so desire to focus on the individual act of thankfulness. They can ignore the “First
Thanksgiving” that is mostly made up. And those moments that destroyed their
ancestor’s world. But we are alive now.
We all should celebrate thankfulness,
not for history or politics but for the human emotion of hope and individual thankfulness.
I’m personally thankful for my
loving family and friends. Also for the many years I have been allowed to write
a weekly newspaper column. To all of you reading this I am grateful and wish
you peace and happiness.
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