OP ED: Decolonizing thanksgiving and Recentering Indigeneity

As I’ve embraced decoloniality in my life, I’ve uncovered how white supremacy permeates nearly every aspect of our existence—relationships, career decisions, and even the ways we navigate respectability and conflict, like ghosting. Decolonizing my mind and life is ongoing work that extends beyond myself to my peers, family, friends, and communities. It’s a commitment to unlearning and reimagining how we love, build community, create, and experience joy.

Joy, in itself, is an act of resistance. But celebrating joy on Thanksgiving—a day of mourning for Native peoples—contradicts that resistance. Thanksgiving, as we know it, is a myth perpetuated by colonizers to obscure the genocide and colonization that marked its origins. The Pilgrims were not friends with Native Americans; they were their colonizers. Recognizing this truth demands that we reconsider our relationship with this holiday and ask ourselves whether it should be reshaped—or not celebrated at all.

The significance of Thanksgiving varies across communities. For European Americans, it reflects their inherited complicity in systems of colonization and enslavement. For Black Americans, the holiday often represents a connection to ancestry, tradition, and community—not colonization. Still, during Native American Heritage Month, we have a responsibility to center Indigenous voices and truths over colonial myths.

As we rethink the narratives around Thanksgiving, here are 4 tangible ways to recenter Indigeneity and honor Native peoples during this time

• Decolonize Your Historical Lens: Take the time to learn the real history of Thanksgiving and the Wampanoag tribe, whose survival and sovereignty were deeply impacted by colonization.
• Support Indigenous Businesses: Seek out and purchase goods from Indigenous artisans, creators, and businesses. Supporting Native economies is a meaningful way to give back to the communities impacted by this holiday’s legacy.
• Acknowledge the Land You’re On: Research the tribal nations who inhabit or once inhabited the land you live on. Verbally acknowledge this during gatherings to honor their enduring presence and sovereignty.
• Raise Awareness: Share with your community the ongoing struggles Indigenous peoples face, including disenfranchisement and systemic racism. Amplify Indigenous voices and perspectives to challenge the dominant colonial narratives.

Decolonizing Thanksgiving is an act of resistance and respect. By engaging in these practices, we can contribute to a more truthful and equitable honoring of Native peoples and histories. Decolonizing my life means recentering Indigeneity and challenging systems, traditions, and narratives that erase or harm Native peoples. I invite you to think critically about how we honor this time and whose stories we choose to elevate.