Giving Thanks while Decolonizing our Tables
Thanksgiving holds a variety of meanings for different people, ranging from time with loved ones to hard family dynamics, from the anticipation of seasonal foods to historical trauma. Holding multiple truths at once seems necessary to live in such a complex world as ours. While the traditional story of Thanksgiving is rife with conflict and echoes of colonial violence, this day still represents a celebration of the fall harvest and the coming together of family for many Americans. Today I want to offer some reflections, and – if you’re like me – some thoughts on how to decolonize the holiday. I want to respect those around me who use the holiday to practice gratitude, but I am also working to see the full picture. So how can we salvage a harvest holiday from false and harmful historical fantasy? How can we acknowledge the Indigenous peoples of the land we call the United States, while practicing awareness, building community, and enjoying good food? Here are some offerings based on the work I’ve been doing:
Locate Yourself–
A great place to start is to look up whose traditional lands you live on (or are visiting, if you are traveling this Thanksgiving). The website native-land.ca offers an interactive map showing the ancestral territories of the many Indigenous nations across North America. If you want to learn more about the tribes local to your area, you can also visit their websites, where you will find information about their cultural practices, tribal history, and current initiatives and news. Indigenous people are still here, despite so many attempts by our nation to disperse and disenfranchise communities. Indigenous stories are worth studying and amplifying.
I stumbled across this beautiful tree on a walk in West LA the other day, its bark peeling away as the seasons change
Recognize Indigenous Foods and Foodways –
Now, let’s talk more specifically about our Thanksgiving tables! Sean Sherman, also known as The Sioux Chef, who is a James Beard Award-winning chef and the founder of the Indigenous restaurant Owamni (plus he’s one of TIME Magazine’s 100 most influential people of 2023!) provides fitting inspiration. In an article for TIME, he stated that “most of our Thanksgiving recipes are made with indigenous foods: turkey, corn, beans, pumpkins, maple, wild rice and the like. We should embrace this.” Ok, so take a look at your spread and reflect on which dishes contain ingredients native to this continent. Not only are these foods seasonal and festive, but they were and continue to be cultivated by Indigenous land stewards. If you’re interested in reading more about what The Sioux Chef has to say about Thanksgiving, this is the article. And if you want to get deeper into the food anthropology, a good place to start is this very short fact sheet put out by the National Museum of the American Indian. Or check out the video “Native American Food Sovereignty, Explained” from Cooking! with Tai and PBS Origins.
“Most of our Thanksgiving recipes are made with indigenous foods: turkey, corn, beans, pumpkins, maple, wild rice and the like. We should embrace this.”
Support Indigenous-Owned Businesses –
If you’re looking to plan a fun family adventure, consider booking a cultural experience. If you’re in California, this is a great resource to get the wheels turning.
If you don’t have access to a nearby opportunity, don’t worry! If you are buying gifts this coming holiday season, consider buying from a Native-owned company. Here is a list of businesses you can support online via New York Magazine.
Celebrate the Wins and Learn How to Support –
Recently, I learned about an exciting win for environmental restoration and Indigenous food sovereignty here on the west coast. Tribes local to the area around the Oregon-California border, including the Yurok, Karuk, and Klamath Tribes, have been fighting for decades for the removal of four dams blocking the Klamath River. The last dam came down on October 2, 2024, making this the biggest dam removal project in the history of the United States. Salmon, which are an integral part of these tribes’ cultures and diets, were seriously impacted by the dams because they blocked the fish from swimming upriver to lay their eggs in the cool freshwater creeks where they were born. For the first time in 60 years, Chinook salmon are swimming all the way up the river to spawn in their historic breeding grounds. This dam-removal milestone is restoring health to life across the board: to the salmon populations, which were dying at startling rates because of poor water quality; to the river, which tribes are already organizing efforts to restore; and to the tribal cultures, which will once again have access to the fish that is an important food source and spiritually significant. If you want to read more about this incredible win, here are two fascinating articles: an overview and a slightly deeper dive.
I’m sure that wherever you are there is a struggle for the restoration of natural ecosystems and native foodways. I am seeking ways that I can get involved with those local efforts and offer my time and an extra set of hands to the fight, and I encourage you to do the same!
These lovely flowers are growing on the Arbutus Marina, aka the Marina Strawberry Tree. This tree, like many of us, is not native but thrives here, which I think is food for thought/reflection for those of us who are not Indigenous to North America but love and steward this land. Let’s remember to acknowledge with respect and gratitude that these beautiful soils we live on are Native land.
With Thanksgiving on Thursday and Native American Heritage Day on Friday, I wish everyone a lovely start to the festive season, celebrating whatever this holiday means to you. I hope we can all take a few moments this week to step away from the hustle and bustle of this time of year to be still and reflect on gratitude. Take a walk and count how many different colors you see around you, savor the autumnal flavors of a ripe persimmon or a pecan pie, spend some quality time with your chosen family… and hopefully we can go into December feeling in tune with the seasons, self-aware, rested, and present.
