Tuesday, November 30, 2010

Thanksgiving sort of ruined.

I don't really like holidays a ton, except for el dieciocho and Thanksgiving. Yes, I'm a foodie. hahaha. Thanksgiving used to be my favorite American holiday. This year V and I had a lovely Thanksgiving lunch with my folks, for which I am thankful. But then, V asked me what we were celebrating. I couldn't remember if it was the first harvest that the pilgrims had after arriving to America, or if it was a feast that the Native Americans prepared for the pilgrims saving them from starvation. According to omniscient wikipedia, both answers are partially correct. Turns out the Native Americans taught the pilgrims to plant so that the pilgrims wouldn't starve to death come winter. It worked out well for the pilgrims, and Thanksgiving is celebrated at harvest time. So it celebrates the first harvest. Then the whites proceeded to kill almost all of the Native Americans.

I've always known that. I don't know why it ruined Thanksgiving for me this year and not other years. Perhaps because this year I read Bury My Heart At Wounded Knee, An Indian History of the American West. And so I guess having to explain Thanksgiving to a foreigner six months after reading this book, got to me. I'm just thankful my little nephew and niece didn't ask me. I might have gone off on an "unpatriotic" rant and ruined their childhoods.

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