I Live On Stolen Land

Instead of perpetuating the nationalistic myth of Thanksgiving, in which the "Pilgrims" were offered food by Indigenous people and peace was had, I'm going to talk about something very different:  genocide of Native peoples.

Today I honor and remember the Myaamia, Kaskaskia, and Kiikapoi--the peoples that were here in Indianapolis before colonization.  I thank all Natives for their innumerable contributions to our culture without any recognition (and often erasure).

Thanks to my ancestors (and the ancestors of the majority of people living in the United States today), entire Native populations were destroyed and their cultures (including languages, religion, and art) erased.

I can never undo what my ancestors have done.  The most I can do is listen to Indigenous peoples and amplify their voices with my own white privilege.  I can support them financially by buying authentically-made products from Natives and giving money directly to Native people. (When I am in a better spot financially, I plan to make monthly donations to survivors of local tribes.)  I have already stopped using white sage, sweetgrass, and palo santo wood, plants sacred to many Native people that have become commercialized and cheapened by the modern Pagan and New Age movements.

The United States continues to be responsible for horrific atrocities against people indigenous to North America--keeping Natives in poverty, the residential school system, not allowing Indigenous peoples access to their own sacred sites that are part of national parks, defiling Six Grandfathers with Mount Rushmore, and the list goes on.

In my own small way, I'm choosing to be the change and use my voice and privilege for good.

If you are afraid to speak on behalf of the oppressed, you can honor Natives by taking care of the planet we all call home.  Many Indigenous people hold the land they live on as sacred.  By taking care of the Land, we will be taken care of in return.  This is a simple way of showing respect to those who were here before we were.

May we all work to dispel the harmful Thanksgiving myth.

In faith and love,

Orchid