Latest Announcements

Dear Good People of Saint Bernadette,

I came across an account of the real stories of the times that our celebrations of Thanksgiving Day look back to, almost with fond memory, and realized that we have more to consider in our Thanksgiving holiday, including our debt to the peoples whose lands we inhabit today. Our celebration should come with a commitment to somehow express our regret (at least) for what our forefathers did in those days of colonialism and settlements. From the lens of Israel Palestine, we almost get a story that is all too familiar today. I have included here some paragraphs summarizing the website of the Potawatomi nation, who give a history from their experience that is different, and difficult for many to acknowledge.

Although many Potawatomi and others across the United States celebrate Thanks-giving, the factual history behind the holiday for them is something to be less than thankful for. While communing with loved ones and showing appreciation for the bounties and gifts provided is one positive aspect of the national holiday, teaching a false narrative of its beginnings perpetuates colonialism and ignores more than 400 years of atrocities committed against Native Americans and First Nations’ people.

The formation of Thanksgiving as an official, United States’ holiday did not begin until November 1863 during the Civil War. President Abraham Lincoln officially established the holiday as a way to improve relations between northern and southern states as well as the U.S. and tribal nations. Just a year prior, a mass execution took place of Dakota tribal members. Corrupt federal agents kept the Dakota-Sioux from receiving food and provisions. Finally at the brink of death from starvation, members of the tribe fought back, resulting in the Dakota War of 1862. In the end, President Lincoln ordered 38 Dakota men to die from hanging, and he felt that proclaiming Thanksgiving offered an opportunity to bridge the hard feelings amongst Natives and the federal government.

“It was to try and build this event so that you could have a deeper narrative about community building and coming together in shared brotherhood and unity.”

Textbooks often indicate the Pilgrims settled in Plymouth, Massachusetts, because the harsh winter was approaching or a storm sent them off course from their original Virginia destination. Winter’s onset cannot have been the reason, however, for the weather would be much milder in Virginia than Massachusetts. Clearly, the Pilgrims wanted to avoid the persecution they were fleeing from with the Anglican church, who were already in Virginia. It is thought that the Dutch possibly bribed the Mayflower’s captain to sail north, a good distance from New Amsterdam in present-day New York.

Some historians believe their arrival in Cape Cod was purposeful. It has been argued that, in addition to the fine fishing along Cape Cod, much of the land already cleared by the indigenous people offered an unusual opportunity for English settlement due to a plague that, within three years, had wiped out 90 to 96% of the native populations. Prior to European arrival, America’s Indigenous did not experience illnesses attributed to livestock, overcrowding or poor hygiene. One in 20 survived the coming of Europeans. Once the pilgrims did arrive in 1620, the epidemics across Indian Country were far from over. They believed the wide-spread death and devastation of Native Americans due to disease was divine providence and that God wanted them to take over the land.

The article concludes with this hopeful message: While many will continue getting together with friends and loved ones to celebrate and recognize the gifts provided since the year before, incorporating traditional ingredients and recipes as well as teaching the factual history can go a long way in healing and restoring the Native narrative within the American culture.

As we look back over the histories of cultures and peoples, we always find narratives that have been changed or skipped over depending on who is writing (or rewriting) the account. The fact that we are still here is enough to declare a day of thanksgiving, but we must also remember those who didn’t survive the conflict and who paved the way for our being here today, rightly or wrongly.

I think it is for this reason that the immigrant communities over the decades have been, perhaps, the greatest to embrace Thanksgiving Day. But we should do so with a sober realization that what we enjoy was not free, and in many cases it was not ourselves who paid the price.

The Lord be with you.