Thanksgiving: The Fake American Culture

 "Thanksgiving Day, is a national day celebrated in the United States, since 1789, on the 23rd of November, after the Congress requested a proclamation by George Washington. It is traditionally a day for families and friends to get together for a special meal; parades and festivals are held in cities and towns. At Thanksgiving, Native Indians feel insulted, belittled, and demeaned in such offensive ways.

 

     Native American's believe that their cultural heritage is being critically manipulated by the white Americans. The practices of the white American trivialise native rituals and norms, by not taking their culture respectfully, but for entertainment purposes only. They deliberately overlook and negate the historical trauma, as well as discrimination which continues to persist.

 

     Consequently, America is not a melting pot of different cultures, for a multicultural country respects diverse cultural ethnicities that make up its population. The culture of all its citizens ought to be considered, treating all the citizens of the State equally. This means they should be given the right opportunities to celebrate their traditions and customs. Unequivocally, however, the Native Indians are being discriminated against, therefore, are not being treated alike.

 

     The minorities that are living in the US, particularly the Native Indian scarcely celebrate their culture; over a short limited period. They feel insulted, denigrated and inferior to the white Americans. As a result, millions of Americans are prevented from understanding and experiencing authentic Native American culture, since these practices, during Thanksgiving, associate the Native Indian with some type of disorder, violence, primitiveness, crudeness, and many other symbols related to wars, killing and backwardness.

 

     Although the Native Indians have their culture, organisations, religious beliefs and language, they are not considered apart of the American social family; their culture has been reduced to means of entertainment and amusement. Furthermore, the practices of white Americans, at Thanksgiving, present the Native Indians as primitive and savage people who favour war, killing, disorder, and are in some cases seen as a threat to the white America.

 

 

Indeed, Native Indian's mourn the fact that they were hunted down, systematically slaughtered, exploited, pillaged, exterminated and raped by the European colonizers. Seen this way, for indigenous Native Indians, Thanksgiving is a day of remembrance, grief, historic trauma and mourning. In other words, it's the date when they lost their culture, religious rituals, language and land.

 

     Saliently, America cannot render itself to be intrinsically democratic, at the same time negating the social, political and cultural identity of its natives. Native Indian culture has never been assimilated or accepted by mainstream American culture. This is, indeed, why the Native Indians continue to suffer discrimination, powerlessness, injustice, and inequality. Indisputably, history is often written by the conquerors, which means American history is obfuscated -  historical evidence is selective, and what is chosen is always subjective. In the case of the Native Americans, it conceals how they were mistreated, ignoring the heinous violations committed by the European's against them.

 

     Moreover, this serves as an obstacle and almost an impossibility for Native Indians to teach their children their own tradition, unequivocally, they feel marginalised. Oppression, violence and bloodshed perpetrated by the European colonisers continue to be ignored.

 

     Estimates of the population figures for indigenous people in the Americas prior to the 1492 voyage of Christopher Columbus puts the figure at around 50 million. The discovery of the New World led to the colonization of the Americas, resulting in millions of immigrants settling there. With that the population of the European steadily proliferated, while the indigenous population plummeted, marginalising and stripping away native identity.

 

     Specialists in American Indian history refer to the deliberate mass destruction of American Indian populations, succeeding the European colonisation of the Americas, using terms such as, “American Indian Genocide” or “American Indian Holocaust.” Today, there are over 500 Native American tribes in the United States, each with a distinct culture, way of life and history; facing ongoing discrimination and persecution."