This 18th century illustration of the first Thanksgiving didn't depict reality, many Native Americans say.
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Current Event #10: The Pros and Cons of Thanksgiving
Due: Friday, December 2nd
Thanksgiving: A time of reflecting on all of the events and times one has encountered during the course of the year(s). It is a time when most of the world finds the time to gather with their loved ones and enjoy the company of one another. Thanksgiving day marks a period where the traditional holiday meal consists of a full course meal, including a carved turkey, a host of baked sweets, etc. We often find other activities coinciding as a result of this holiday, such as the BLACK FRIDAY (Day after Thanksgiving) retail sales and putting up Christmas decorations, to name a few. However, what does this day mean for some who don't quite have this same perspective, namely Native Americans. From a historical point of you, let's take a look back in hindsight, to read and define the origin of this revered national holiday.
What you will do:
You will visit the following link: http://inamerica.blogs.cnn.com/2011/11/24/thanksgiving-is-some-native-americans-day-of-mourning/?hpt=us_bn1 , this will take you to the CNN article entitled: Thanksgiving is some Native Americans' "Day of Mourning". You are assigned to read this article to gather varying opinions surrounding the celebration of Thanksgiving. Upon reading the selection, I want you to begin formulating your own personal pros and cons about this celebrated day and discuss each in specific detail as you write your first paragraph(s). Provide examples of how you and your family celebrated Thanksgiving, and also a few family traditions performed.
Within the next 2-3 paragraphs, discuss how this article may or may not have changed the way you look at the way we celebrate this holiday. Express your thoughts/opinions based on the individuals mentioned in the article as to whether you feel Native Americans were wronged. Also provide a position in regards to the European settlers exploring new lands in America to create colonies. Let's examine the origin of the day set aside to give thanks to the yearly harvests of our hard labor!
Jeanie Stouffer
ReplyDelete11/28/11
5th
My opinion did not change very much while I read this article. I think the English were very mean about going to the United States. I think the English should have been nicer, and they needed to move, because most of them were prosecuted. I am of European descendent, and my ancestors were coming through a tough time and they moved to the United States of America.
Mahtowin Munro’s opinion is understandable. The Native Americans were starved and killed. But he says we should not be thankful for what happened to the Native Americans. I agree with J. Lucy Boyd, and she says you should be thankful no matter what. I did not think about the pilgrims during thanksgiving. I was thankful for what I had, not for the pilgrims going to the United States, but I am thankful for the pilgrims. Without the pilgrims, there would not be a diverse country that has lots of freedom.
Huibo Qi
ReplyDeleteP-2
Many people think of Thanksgiving as a time to meet with relatives and have a good time. This is true, however, and before I read this article, I lacked the depth to this holiday. In elementary school, I learned about the pilgrims and the Native Americans, but my teacher did not give us precise details. As I have said before, Thanksgiving is primarily about reuniting with distant relatives. It also lets us realize how much we have grown in the past year and how our families have changed as well. The downside is that either we are unaware of the history of the holiday, or pay inconsiderable attention to it.
This article made me realize that there is more to Thanksgiving than eating with family members. It made me rethink the history behind it, and realize what I have been taught is incomplete. I never paid much consideration to Thanksgiving; in the past years, I’ve been worrying about traveling for the holidays, or mingling with relatives and friends. I mainly think of Thanksgiving and other holidays as a break from school, which is foolish compared to the importance the people in the article had emphasized.
After reading the article, I have to agree that the history of Thanksgiving between the pilgrims and the Native Americans is not a fairytale. If the pilgrims did not come, then the Native Americans would not have had to endure such harsh times. The pilgrim’s journey was not ill fated; it is reasonable to expand one’s country, almost an instinct. One of their priorities was to explore America; better to unravel the mysteries of the land then to leave it in the dark. The pilgrim’s decisions and their arrogance was the Native American’s downfall.
Tommy Billman
ReplyDeleteP1
In my immediate family thanksgiving is very laid-back. Our relatives are all more than a 10 hour drive from here so we just have a day where we eat a big lunch of traditional thanksgiving food and we have leftovers for dinner. We usually watch tv and just lay around. Last year we watched a program about what really happened on the first thanksgiving and I though it was very interesting how different it was from what we were taught. I think that a quote that pertains to this topic is that history is written by the victor. If the indians had forced us out of the country there would be no thanksgiving and if there was the indians would be seen as the generous ones.
I totally agree that the Native Americans were wronged they did nothing wrong, welcomed us with open arms, and they were massacred. I think that the settlers forced their way in and did things that were unethical. We recently read To Kill a Mockingbird in english and in the novel they day you shouldn't shoot mockingbirds because they don't do anything bad and only sing to us. I feel that you could use this as a symbol for the indians they did nothing bad to us and shared what they had and taught us to survive in the new world and we killed them. I don't see what could be more unethical.
Roy Huang - 2nd period
ReplyDeleteI think Thanksgiving is a great holiday. Families are able to reunite and have some time together. We are also able to enjoy a big meal with them. People can get a break from their work, and enjoy sports on TV. My family usually celebrates Thanksgiving by either hosting a dinner or going to a friend's house. We aren't able to unite with our family because my extended family lives in China.
After reading this article, it slightly changed my view of Thanksgiving. I realized that while we celebrate the Pilgrims arriving in America safely, many, many Native Americans died in the process. I believe that the English could have come and made colonies while being more peaceful. I also think that while we should still be thankful of the Pilgrims colonizing here, we should recognize what the Native Americans went through in the process.
Juliana Dunn, 5th
ReplyDeleteI had never heard about this side of the Thanksgiving story before, in fact, I did not even know that the story had two sides. I have always thought that despite the terrible things the English did to the Native Americans, everyone thinks of Thanksgiving as a day of indifference. Throughout school I have been taught none of this, a peaceful, perfect, picture was always painted for me before now. I usually just think of Thanksgiving as a time to be thankful, take a break from school and see my family, but know I realize how much more it means to other people. During Thanksgiving break, I either go up to Massachusetts and see my mother’s side of the family or I go down to South Carolina and see my father’s side of the family.
I think American should be better educated about these feelings of hurt that are in our country, because it changed my perception of what to be thankful for. The people that are native to this country were completely taken advantage of, when it was completely possible for everyone to get along fine. The fact that the Europeans felt they were of higher rank than the Native Americans is sad, and because of the pompousness, they have caused generations of sorrow, and a mourning day when we all should be able to just give thanks.
Bryan Zhang
ReplyDelete5th period
I think Thanksgiving is a holiday of reunion. Many families around the world are able to have a reunion to feast. I think Thanksgiving is not only for having regaling, but also to have time with each other, and share. My family celebrates, and we usually go to other people’s houses around the neighborhood. My whole family isn’t able to reunite because most of them live in China.
After reading the article, it changed my view. I never knew they fought, which caused a lot of people to die. The English came and built colonies, but being said, they shouldn’t have caused harm to anyone. I think that the Indians didn’t do anything bad to us, and shared their features that helped us survive in the America’s. Also, there were a lot of people that contributed to Thanksgiving, such as the Native Americans. Being said, they did not get as much credit for it.
Heather Fowler
ReplyDelete2nd period
Thanksgiving in my family is a time for all of us to see each other before the holiday season actually starts. Our Thanksgiving usually consists of a big lunch, football on the TV, and an assortment of pies for dessert. Even though I have learned about the history of Thanksgiving, I don’t think about the pilgrimage or the first harvest while spending time with my family. Many Native Americans died in this process, but I don’t think Thanksgiving should be a time of mourning for anyone. Instead of being angry about the misconceptions of this holiday, people should give thanks to the Native Americans that died in this time period.
Reading this article really opened my eyes to what really happened when the Europeans came to the United States. From learning about it in elementary school, I was told that the Native Americans and Europeans got along fine. This was obviously not the case. I feel bad for people like Mahtowin Munro, who feel they need to re-teach and explain what really went down. To be honest, I don’t think this will change the way I celebrate Thanksgiving. I look at it as an opportunity to spend time with my family, and a nice break from school.
Lianna Malawski
ReplyDelete1st period
11/28/2011
Thanksgiving I think is a wonderful holiday. My family and I always eat together on this holiday, sometimes we’ll invite some extended family over or some friends. But we usually always celebrate it as a family. We don’t really have any traditions for this holiday, just to stay together and have a nice feast. We don’t usually dress up, it’s just a time to relax and enjoy the food we have been blessed with.
There are many pros to this holiday. It’s a time when family can all get together and have a nice dinner; where people can catch up with old friends. It’s also a time to be thankful to everybody in our life, and it’s a time to eat like there’s no tomorrow. Some of the cons would have to be remembering many of the people that fought for this day of celebration, but it’s a time to be thankful as well.
It’s just very important that people don’t take whatever they have for granted. Because once they do, they don’t realize how much they had till’ it disappears. Before reading this article, I thought Thanksgiving was just a holiday when we got a week off from school and was able to see relatives. But after reading, I’ve come to learn that this holiday is much more then seeing relatives that live states away. It’s to remember the effort that was put in to make Thanksgiving possible.
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ReplyDeleteJulia Haines
ReplyDelete1st Pd
I think that everyone should celebrate Thanksgiving, whether they are of European or Indian or African or of any decent. I think that it is silly to shun Thanksgiving and turn it into a day of mourning, because those are complete opposites. Some people seem to think that the holiday is all about praising the pilgrims, and in some ways it is because they partially caused America to be where it is today, but that isn’t all of what Thanksgiving is about. It’s about being thankful, it’s right in the name. And no matter whom our ancestors were or what they did, we all have tons to be grateful for, which is what we should celebrate on Thanksgiving.
This article didn’t give me any new opinions about Thanksgiving. It just strengthened my pre-held opinions, and made me kind of mad that people would choose mourning over being thankful. I do agree that the pilgrims weren’t the nicest people in the world, but neither were the Native Americans. Both sides are at fault, people are crazy to claim that one was right and the other was wrong. If the Native Americans really want to, they should make a separate “day of mourning”. Some text books say the Native Americans attacked the Europeans and tried to starve them, others say the Europeans tried to kill the Native Americans and forcefully take the land, and others say they were both peaceful. Given that the eastern coast of America had tons of different Native American tribes with different European settlers, all three are possibly true. We should just move on from this piece of history and be thankful and grateful for what we have today.
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ReplyDeleteKristin Thompson
ReplyDeleteNovember 29, 2011
1st period
During Thanksgiving time my family all goes to my great grandmother’s house and we eat thanksgiving dinner there. We have turkey, ham, sweet potatoes, stuffing and many more things. Everyone normally cooks something and brings it to eat.
When reading the article my opinion has changed somewhat about what thanksgiving really is. I was not really aware that many people died during that time. I think that Mahtowin Munro planed this event to teach many people what really happen. Many people just think thanksgiving is a day to eat. “We do a National Day of Mourning to talk about this and just to say, ‘you need to stop teaching this to your children, and having this false mythology,’” Munro said. I really do not agree on the statement because I think that the meaning of thanksgiving is to be thankful for everything you have which to me is not false mythology.
Raziyah Farrington
ReplyDelete11/29/11
Period 1
Thanksgiving is a wonderful holiday. Thanksgiving is a time to unite and celebrate with your family. My family traveled to Greensboro to spend time with the family we don’t see as often. Families are supposed to focus on all the good things we get blessed with everyday. We don’t have traditions for this holiday but we just intend and focus on staying together and enjoy the wonderful meal god provided us.
Reading this article changed my opinion just a little bit. I wasn’t really aware of what this holiday really was about. There are many pro’s to Thanksgiving, families are suppose to get together and have a very nice dinner, gossip a little, and have a catch up time with on another. There are also some cons to Thanksgiving, before I didn’t real realize them. People don’t realize how good we have it and we should be very thankful of what people provide for us. If we got many people to read this article I still don’t think people will consider what people really think about Thanksgiving.
Elijah Moore
ReplyDelete2nd Period
11/29/11
Everyone has different cultures. It is unfortunate that the colonization of the Americas ended up the way it did. there should be a time where honor the Native Americans who died during the colonization. I don't think that thanksgiving should be canceled because of the catastrophe i just think there should be a separate holiday for it.
The Article really didn't change my opinion of thanks giving because GUESS WHAT! The holiday of thanksgiving is not a holiday where we celebrate the colonization of America (Columbus day). The actual thanksgiving dinner was a time when pilgrims celebrated the success of the colonization, so they had a feast. Our MODERN thanksgiving holiday was issued by George Washington a hundred years later of the feast as a time where families could gather today to rejoice on the positive side of the year. So no the article didn't change my opinion of thanksgiving at all because it isn't accurate.
Becca White
ReplyDelete2nd period
11/29/11
Thanksgiving is one of my favorites holiday. Thanksgiving is primarily about reuniting with distant relatives and old friends. It also lets us realize how much we have grown in the past year and how our families have changed as well. Thanksgiving is a time to give thanks to what we have and appreciate what is given to us. The downside is that we are unaware of the history of the holiday. I think that it is silly to shun Thanksgiving and turn it into a day of mourning, because those are complete opposites. I feel like anyone and everyone should be able to celebrate this wonderful holiday.
My opinion on Thanksgiving did not change that much. Even though many Native Americans died in the process, I feel like that anyone should be able to celebrate. I do agree that the pilgrims weren’t the nicest people in the world, but neither were the Native Americans. I am not really on anyone sides. I just don't have any opinions towards this topic. I think this shouldn't be a big deal and celebrate thanksgiving like we usually do.
For my family, because my parents are Chinese immigrants, we use Thanksgiving as a time to relax and socialize with old friends instead of commemorating the history of the Pilgrims and Native Americans.
ReplyDeleteThis Thanksgiving, our family spent most nights at Asian Gatherings. An Asian Gathering, as you can probably tell by the name, is an exclusively Asian party-like social event where the adults play poker
and the children play video games and hang out. For me, there aren't many cons of Thanksgiving as far as how we spend it. I love being able to relax and be free of work and at the same time enjoy the presence of friends and family. The only con that I can think of is that we have to clean our house before the guests arrive which is backbreaking. That is how my family spent Thanksgiving.
This article really changed my views about Thanksgiving. I've never thought about the holiday through the eyes of Native Americans. I, however, agree and disagree with the article. I agree that the Native Americans were wronged when the English came and took them over. The English destroyed their culture and ways, occupied all their land, and killed thousands of people. I also agree that the Native Americans
have a right to mourn about those who were killed. I do think, however, that they should not be bashing the "traditional" way of celebrating Thanksgiving. Everyone has the right to celebrate how they want to. The Native Americans cannot simply say that the "traditional" celebration is wrong.
Brandon Ta
ReplyDelete1st
Thanksgiving, to my family is not much more different compared to the 'traditional' way of celebrating thanksgiving. We think of it as the more asianified version of thanksgiving. Of course, we gather our friends and family around the table to enjoy a huge delicious meal, but with different food, different drinks, and overall a different atmosphere. We usually something like pork, steak, cabbage and some other asian food that i don't know how to describe in English. However, we are still in that traditional mindset of thanking everything we have, being thankful we are in America with all our friends and family and with successful jobs, food on the table etc. I see no cons to thanksgiving, after all what con is there to stuffing your belly with good food and just chilling out with loved ones?
The article did change what i think about thanksgiving. I don't really think about ways other people celebrate holidays and i don't think i should care about it, what people do is their business. Of course, the native Americans were wronged when their homes were desecrated and lost thousands of their people. But i don't think that gives them the right to go complaining and whining about how people celebrate thanksgiving is wrong and they should do it the right way. There are people from hundreds of different ethnic groups all over the world living in America, they celebrate thanksgiving with their way of life and culture. Everyone has a right to celebrate thanksgiving, no matter how they do it.
Melissa Turner
ReplyDelete11-30-11
2nd period
In my opinion, Thanksgiving is for everyone. The pros are that it is a way to kick off the holiday season. Also, it is a time to be with your family and be close. Also, Native Americans had this tradition before. To me there are no con's to Thanksgiving because it is a time to be grateful and to be with family.
This article did not change the way I think of Thanksgiving. I agree that the Native Americans had this tradition before the English Settlers came, and it is all part of a tradition. It is about giving thanks and being grateful, not about the end to Native Americans. In my opinion Thanksgiving is more than just the history of it. I think that Thanksgiving has evolved into something more than just the history of it. It has become a traditional American holiday were people are with their family and give thanks. People have the right to celebrate Thanksgiving they way they wish and the way they believe is right to their culture.
Jack Jansen
ReplyDelete2nd Period
11/30/11
I think that there are many good things about Thanksgiving. Thanksgiving really promotes being together as a family and being thankful for everything that you have. I think that any holidy that promotes those things is a good thing to be celebrating. There aren't really any cons to Thanksgiving because it is not really a complex celebration with many different parts to it. One family tradition for Thanksgiving is that we always go to my grandparents house for Thanksgiving. As long as I can remember I have been going to there house for this special day.
I mean it is terrible what the settlers did to the Native Americans but learning more about this holiday did not really sway my view too much to be against the hoiday. I understand however why the Native Americans feel the way they feel. Any race or type of people would be angry if someone came and took there land, deemed them inferior and killed thousands of their people. As far as the European settlers go I feel like they could have tried to somehow compensate the Native Americans better. They could have paid them for there land or at least taken over there land and let them stay there.
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteKefu Zhu
ReplyDeletePeriod 5
My opinion didn’t change much after reading the article. We always knew that conflict broke out after the first thanksgiving, so maybe all that nice stuff about sharing food didn’t completely apply. If they were involved in a small war with the Native Americans after thanksgiving, and now were almost entirely on bad terms, what do you think happened? Someone got drunk and shot a bunch of people?
The Native Americans were wronged, certainly, I agree with that. However, the blame is only partially (mostly, at that) on the colonists. They were facing religious prosecution in Europe, they simply had nowhere left to go, they had to go to America. The promises of gold flowing in the rivers didn’t help much. That said, maybe both sides shouldn't have been so hostile at first. In the end, though, I think the first thanksgiving was a middle ground between the Native American description and the colonist description: not suffering, but not an amazingly prosperous time.
Vatsal Parikh
ReplyDelete2nd period
I think that Thanksgiving is a very good holiday for everyone even the Native Americans. I say this because Thanksgiving is a day to be thankful for everything you have and when most people think of thanksgiving they do not think too much about the pilgrims. To me, thanksgiving is a time when I can meet family and relax away from school.
I understand why the Native Americans would feel that they were mistreated, but the day of thanksgiving itself is not the only day that they were done injustice to. Now that the world is peaceful, and mostly everybody is friends and respects other ethnic groups, I think that Native Americans should forget about what people used to think about them, and give thanks to what people feel about them now.
Jacob Guskiewicz
ReplyDeletePeriod 2
Thanksgiving for me is usually a time to relax and enjoy the company of family in town possibly or just your family that lives with you. People celebrate thanks giving in many ways but they are always a fun day to people to just have fun and take a break from your job or education and enjoying eating a lot of food playing video games sports and watching sports for me. I don’t find any cons for thanksgiving because it is a wonderful holiday to keep my family tradition of going to see family in Pennsylvania.
I found the article very interesting how the Writer made the English look like mean people. When I was young I learned that there was no big problem between the English and the Native Americans. But now I have learned that there were disagreements between Native Americans and the English. But the Native Americans were also not very respectful for letting the Americans in to their territory but after the Americans basically took over the land and said it was there and took a lot of land up with their people. So after reading the article i learned a lot more about thanksgiving then I did and the really story sounded very interesting.
Jonathan Jang
ReplyDelete1st Pd
11-30-11
For thanksgiving my family and I usually go to New York and celebrate with my relatives on my dad’s side. Before thanksgiving day all of my relatives and I would spend a whole day getting ready by calling others relative to come and spend time together, while others spend time buying food and preparing for the thanksgiving meal.
My opinion did not change after I read this article. I think the English were foolish and harsh about going to the United States. I also think the English should have tried to meet them in a friendly matter. I agree with Mahtowin Murno’s opinion, even though most Americans think of thanksgiving as a time to get with family many people do not know that the Native Americans were starved, killed, stolen from when the English came and took the land.
I mainly agree that the Native Americans were mistreated and oppressed because they didn’t greet the English with weapons but with open arms and most of all the Native Americans were killed. Because the settlers forced their way in and made things their own ways the Natives had no other choice but to attack because the English probably messed up the nature and other important things to the Natives. If only the English had gone with kindness and love to the new world than I think that things would have been more peaceful and calm.
Juliann Cho
ReplyDelete1st period
Thanksgiving is one of my favorite holidays because I get to eat delicious food, and it’s a great time to hang out with your family. My family’s traditional Thanksgiving consists of a really big dinner with my relatives. A lot of my extended family live in North Carolina, and I see them once a week. But I also have family that live in Georgia and New Jersey, and Thanksgiving is the usually the only time I get to see them. Our dinner involves the traditional turkey, ham, mashed potatoes, and more. In school, I was taught that Thanksgiving was about being thankful about what you have, being able to be with family, and not going to school.
After reading this article, it made me realize how hard it was for the Europeans to settle in America. It’s sad that not a lot of people know about what Thanksgiving REALLY means. This holiday has changed drastically from what it was originally for. But after reading the article, it doesn’t really change my views on Thanksgiving. When I think about this holiday, I think about spending time with my family and eating a great dinner.
Ye Htet
ReplyDelete2nd period
For Thanksgiving my family pretty much stops all their plans to hang out with each other. There are times where you don't really see each other because of jobs and everything else but Thanksgiving is the time to catch up with your family. Almost everyone in my extended family live in Kentucky and Burma so I think it's great that there's a week of seeing them. We usually have asian food but this year there was a change we had turkey. There is a lot of pros but I guess one thing that is bad is that most people didn't know what had really happened on the first Thanksgiving.
The article hasn't really changed what I think about the holiday. It's a time for giving thanks for what you have, I mean there are a lot of families out there that don't get to have huge meals and relax.
I think it was wrong that the Native Americans had to starve and die when the Pilgrims came to America. The Pilgrims treated the people poorly because of their customs and way of living. The story that i had learned was like what everyone had been taught, It's not right to cover up what really happened. Even though what the Pilgrims did was wrong I don't think people should hold on to the past. To me Thanksgiving is to be thankful for things I'm grateful for not to thank the people who died or to mourn them. Even though they just want to show what really happened the past can hold grudges.
Sophie Kahn
ReplyDelete11/30/11
Period Five
Thanksgiving has always been a time in my family to meet up and see each other. It’s a tradition for my family on my dad’s side to go to the mountains and have a big Thanksgiving lunch. I’ve always seen Thanksgiving as a time to see my extended family and eat a lot of good food. I never really thought of the past that’s associated with this holiday, and this article makes me think about how Thanksgiving may be very insulting to some.
Considering this, I still don’t think Thanksgiving should be turned into a day of mourning, because most people don’t even reflect on the pilgrims and the Native Americans. It’s a day of thankfulness, and that can relate to anything we can be thankful for. It doesn’t mean that we are thankful for the event that led to the Native Americans suffering, because as I said before, most people don’t even think about the past on Thanksgiving. If someone felt like thinking about the past, they could be thankful that the pilgrims were here to set up our civilization, but not for the persecution against the Native Americans.
Jeremy Werden
ReplyDelete1st period
12/1/11
The article I just read has really changed my perspective of Thanksgiving. Previously I thought of thanksgiving as a day the Native Americans and pilgrims hung out and had a great meal. I thought that they were happy together and had a wonderful future. The New England Native American man says differently.
I Never really understood the fact that the Native Americains were slaughtered. I assumed that there were just not very many of them to begin with but I was wrong. Native americans inhabited our land that we occupy today. And after the first thanksgiving meal, the Native Amercains were slaughtered off of the wholly land they once occupied. I do not think we should celebrate thanksgivng as a celebration, but instead a day of mourning.
David Batson 11/30/11 P: 2
ReplyDeleteSome of the pros include that that may have been how it was, it’s fun to see family and friends that you may only see a few times a year and to celebrate with a big family meal. The cons include that we don’t know what really happened. I don’t really have a lot of opinion about bad things in thanksgiving purely because it is one of the only times I can see my cousins who live in Asheville and Morris burg. For me it is just an overall happy and joyous event where I get to see my family and have fun. I usually go down to my grandparent’s house in Myrtle Beach with my two uncles, two aunts and four cousins on my mom’s side. Our traditions include a huge family thanksgiving dinner, family games such as golf or bocce ball and just being around the rest of the family.
This article has slightly changed the way I view thanksgiving but my family does not celebrate thanksgiving for historical reasons. That is what established it but we use it as a time to reconnect with the other family members and have fun down at the beach. I respect their way of celebrating thanksgiving as much as my own and have no problem with their different view of the holiday. I agree that the Native Americans were wronged but, as I stated earlier, I don’t think about the pilgrims or Native Americans really at thanksgiving. I just take the time to reconnect with my family members. I do not think that European settlers had any right to come to the new world and colonize the eastern seaboard. Or, at least, not to nearly wipe out a pre-existing culture already present there.
Parker Larson
ReplyDeletePeriod 5
For my thanksgiving, it always is with family. We will either go somewhere, or invite people. The last thanksgiving, we went to a lake cabin in Virginia and invited my cousins and grandparents. We had some traditional turkey and potatoes and such, as well as some fish (I know its redneck). I think thanksgiving is a great time to meet family, and barely anyone thinks about the origination.
Call me insensitive, but this article didn’t change me, a lot of holidays can be offensive to some people. I just ignore the complainers. I guess I just take thanksgiving as a great time to meet family and eat good food, if that offends you, suck it up. I do feel remorse for the grief Indians went through. I respect them, but should we ruin our happy family filled times to mourn? My answer is a blunt no.
My family doesn’t usually do a big hoopla for Thanksgiving. My mother always used to make untraditional dishes to be ‘different’. As the CNN article said, sometimes people don’t find it as big of a holiday. This year, my dad and I went to a friends house and we played monopoly, we didn’t make a big deal to how it was Thanksgiving, but we did spend time with family and friends. The next day my two good friends and I went to Black Friday--it was my first time going. Before my dad let me go he gave me a big speech about how Thanksgiving purpose was not about shopping and I came to realize it isn’t.
ReplyDeleteFrom reading CNN’s Thanksgiving article “Day of Mourning” I’ve noticed how Thanksgiving shouldn’t be as celebrated for that time when indigenous Native Americans were persecuted, but I do think it’s a good way to continue being with your family and having a good time with them. We as americans and contributors to society should also recognize that their were inhabiters here before us and I’m glad that the article says that.
I have never been particularly fond of Thanksgiving itself, but I do enjoy the time off from school, I think it gives me a new perspective on the year. Usually that is the turning point in the school year for me, because this is when I have to start to study more and be more focused in my classes. I think that Thanksgiving should be what you make it out to be. I don't think it should be the food that brings us together, and that we could have Thanksgiving over any meal and it should not be an allotted date because then many people stress and try to make an impressive meal for their family. We should just be able to have a "thanksgiving" whenever we have our families together.
ReplyDeleteMy perspective of Thanksgiving really changed when I read this article. It reinforced my ideas that Thanksgiving should not be celebrated as a tradition, but only recognized when you are truly thankful instead of being "forced" to be thankful for just one day of the year. I don't think that Thanksgiving should be a national holiday but I think we should still get the break off our jobs and be able to reflect on what we have done this year, but it should not be a huge thing for the whole country, the holiday has gotten more and more commercialized which is something that I really don't support.
For me thanksgiving is a time to get with my family, and this is true for lots of american families. On this day my family including aunts and uncles cook a different dish then we meet up together and feast, then we watch tv for the rest of the day. I believe that this is very nice and not just my family does this but a lot more americans do this because we all think this is the normal thanksgiving holiday and that this is we are suppose to do. But then sometimes a lot of people are not able to feast like everyone else because they have to work and get ready for black friday and then work all night and not see there family till the next day and pronely not eat the traditional food.
ReplyDeleteAfter reading the CNN this has not changed me at all. I think that the way I am celebrating thanksgiving is fine i dont know why we all have to change when i think that this way is better just getting with the family. But the only thing that i would like to change about thanksgiving is black friday because no one gets to enjoy thanksgiving.
Grace Gollmar
ReplyDelete1st Pd.
12/1/11
I don’t usually think of Thanksgiving in its historical context, since I have always celebrated it by giving thanks for what I have and spending time with my family. For me, Thanksgiving is quite literally a day for giving thanks, and I usually spend it playing games, eating, talking and just being around the people I love. I don’t see the day itself having any cons, other than the fact that in its present, more commercialized form, it may trivialize the idea of giving thanks altogether in favor of Black Friday sales and turkeys.
This article didn’t entirely change my views on Thanksgiving, since in my opinion the modern celebration of Thanksgiving has evolved a huge amount from its historical context. As the article points out, there were horrible events in our nation’s past connected with this holiday, but today’s celebration of Thanksgiving is so far distanced from these events that I don’t see a need to replace it with mourning. However, I do think it is important to remember the full story of the Europeans’ colonization of America, lest we forget about the point of view brought up by Mahtowin Munro in the article: that Native Americans’ voices deserve to be heard, and that all sides of our history should be understood.
Matt dayton
ReplyDeletePeriod 1
12/1/11
Our family doesn't hype up Thanksgiving that much. We do eat good food and get together with family but it is never very formal. We eat in our jeans and sweatshirts and just enjoy the food. Some families get it all up and dress formal but our family doesn't.I believe that our famly is about equal to do most of the familes in America. Our family doesn't partake in black Friday.
After reading the article it did not change my view about thanksgiving at all. I think that the way my family if just fine and I don't think I need to change anything. I do agree that Thanksgiving has been comercailized by Black Friday. I could have that go away.
Emilee Taxman
ReplyDelete2nd Period
This has been a bit of a surprise for me but not too much, seeing as I already knew a lot of it. I think that it is good that people are aware of it, though it doesn’t hurt for people to just enjoy themselves anyway. I think that it is sad that one of our most loved holidays is partially about human suffering. For some though, this provides an occasion to remember our past. Either way, this is about family being together so that is good. My family doesn’t really have many traditions, other than just that we gather together and have a big dinner. This is good for most Americans to bond with the families, whether it is in suffering or in celebration.
This may change the way I think of the holiday a little bit but it won’t change how I celebrate it. It is interesting to me that this holiday which I happily celebrate is negatively viewed by whole communities. I think that it is true that the Native Americans were wronged. They had the land long before the settlers came. They could have tried to make a treaty but instead they fought and killed many. This seems not at all fair to them, and the Pilgrims were made to seem so innocent. While my thankgiving won’t change, I know enough to understand people who feel this way.
Dilay Uras 5th pd
ReplyDeleteHons World History
I do not celebrate Thanksgiving. That is because I am a European. So on the day of Thanksgiving my family and I celebrate a holiday that comes from our religion. We biaram. We basically slaughter a sheep to God. It is a sacrifice to the God, ask for a good year. Than we celebrate all night long.
My opinion in Thanksgiving did not change because after a goodhearted meal the pilgrims and the Native Indians just started fighting. So the question I have is how can one be grateful if the day of Thanksgiving was a war?
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteDaniel Ferreira 5th Period
ReplyDeleteI believe there are many pros to Thanksgiving. It is a great time to relax and have fun. You get to spend time with the people you love and appreciate what you have in life. Although many people’s perception on the matter is false, they still get to spend time with family and enjoy life. However, it’s unfortunate that many people don’t understand what actually happened on Thanksgiving Day. It shouldn’t be a time to celebrate the death of many Native American’s, but more of a time to be thankful for just being here. Our family usually just does the basics for Thanksgiving. I watched football and later in the day we went to go have Thanksgiving dinner at a friend’s house. It was a nice way to spend time with family. On “Black Friday” I went to Southpoint with a couple of good friends.
This article hasn’t changed my view on Thanksgiving one bit. I have already known what had happened on Thanksgiving. I believe it is important that everyone realizes the true importance of Thanksgiving and what truly occurred. Native American’s were obviously wronged, however this is not the reason to celebrate. Thanksgiving is a time to value what you have and be with family. Just like Boyd said "Thanksgiving is for everybody, it doesn’t belong to any one group, it belongs to all of us.” I believe that European settlers deserved to settle here in America, but not in the fashion they did.
Ria Das
ReplyDelete2nd period
12/1/11
I think Thanksgiving is a great holiday. There is nothing not to like for this holiday, because you basically just eat a lot of food while hanging out with your family and friends. At my house Thanksgiving is very simple, we usually just sit down, eat a meal and then spend the rest of the day doing family activities. Usually I do not go Black Friday Shopping, but this year my mother and I did go and see what all the buzz was about.
This article has not changed the way I view Thanksgiving, but instead it has shown me another perspective. I have never actually thought about how Native Americans perceive this holiday, so this article has shown me a new opinion. I think that Native Americans were wronged by the European settlers, but if they were not, then life would be very different in America today.
Mookho Paw
ReplyDelete2ed period
My family never celebrated Thanksgiving until we moved to the United States roughly eight years ago. Since then, my family celebrate but spending time with the extended family and cooking traditional food. I feel that thanksgiving is very important since it brings the extended family together. As the article stated, some families do not find this holiday to be that important. It’s not a huge holiday for my family, compared to Christmas and all. I think it’s very nice that students and teachers and most workers get a break though.
To be completely honest, this article did not change me at all. Growing up and going to elementary school up to now, I have learned very much about the history of thanksgiving. Although I do feel very bad about the loss for the Indians. In fact, I would not want what’s happeing to them to happen to my culture and my people. And even though this article did not change me, I still think that it is a fantastic way for families, entanded families and friends to reunite to share and spend time making long lasting memories.
Carolyn Deutsch
ReplyDelete2nd period
12/1/11
Thanksgiving is one of my favorite holdiays. It is a time to see distant relatives, spend time with family and eat good food. Every year for Thanksgiving me and my family all travel to New Jersey to my aunt and unlces house and so does most of my dads side of the family. Thanksgiving is a time to see how much we have grown and how far we have come over the past year. I think that it is and should be a day of celebration not of mourning.
The article did not really change my view on Thanksgiving. While I can see why some people think it is bad or should be a day of mourning because of how the Pilgrims and the Native Americans treated each other so long ago, is still think it should be a time to celebrate. I think that Thanksgiving is a great holiday and to me it will always be a happy day to eat good food see my family and have fun.
Current Event
ReplyDeletePeriod 5
Peter Williams
12/1/11
After reading this article about Thanksgiving I realize that there are many pros and cons about the holiday. One pro for example, is gathering your family together for a meal, especially if that doesn’t happen a lot. There are also several cons though, such as the fact that a lot of people don’t even know the story of Thanksgiving or the reason we celebrate it, they just use it as an excuse to eat a lot. Since people don’t know the story they also don’t know that many Native Americans grieve on Thanksgiving. To celebrate it this year my family stayed at home and at a meal together of turkey, mashed potatoes and other Thanksgiving foods. Usually we go to Tennessee and visit with the rest of the family. There are also foods made every year like pink and orange salad. Those are just some of my family’s traditions.
I don’t think there is anything wrong with the way we celebrate Thanksgiving but we should at least recognize and understand the Native Americans that are grieving on the same day for their losses. I do feel that the Native Americans were wronged so they should still be allowed to mourn if they want . What the people mentioned in the article are doing is good, they are trying to incorporate the Native American part of them into their Thanksgiving celebration or celebrating it twice. This shows respect for both sides which is good. My view on the holiday has been changed a bit after reading this, so I now realize that there are two sides to the story.
Ariella Hirsch
ReplyDelete5th
Thanksgiving isn't a big holiday for my family. The breaks from school and work are mostly what we look forward to. We usually travel and visit family. This year we went to my grandparent's house in Washington D.C.. My grandmother did prepare turkey and cranberries for Thanksgiving, however she made many other non traditional Thanksgiving dishes also, which were equally a part of our meal. We don't think about anything special on Thanksgiving like we do on holidays that are more important to my family. I wouldn't say that we celebrate Thanksgiving, but we don't mourn either.
The article made me think about different perspectives on Thanksgiving for the first time. I had not really thought about the meaning of Thanksgiving since we read book and did fun activities in elementary school. I think it is completely up to each Native American family how they celebrate or mourn on Thanksgiving. We can't tell them what they do is wrong, and at the same time they can't tell anyone that the traditional way that Thanksgiving is celebrated is wrong. Thanksgiving still has a strong meaning and large importance for some families when celebrated traditionally; the same way that mourning on Thanksgiving is very important to some Native Americans. Families and groups of people observe other holidays differently, so it shouldn't be a shock, or matter that different people have different traditions on Thanksgiving.
Arturo Tornero
ReplyDelete1st
For my family, Thanksgiving is a day to be appreciative of what we have and get together. Like everyone in America and some other countries, we have a special meal of turkey (marinated Cuban-Style), potatoes, et cetera. To my family, Thanksgiving is one of the most important holidays, so we have relatives from all over the country (and sometimes other countries: Spain, Colombia, Canada) come to visit.
At a perspective that I view now, Thanksgiving is really changing, and Its Black Fridays fault. Less and less people mind about Thanksgiving and just prepare to get their “half price TV’s.” I think its fine that some people forget the real occurrence of Thanksgiving as long as they give thanks to what they have. But more and more people ‘contribute’ to Black Friday than spending time with their family. Black Friday seems to be the new religion. People find themselves at two in the morning buying things that they don’t need, and could get them another time when no one is getting trampled or PEPERSPRAYED, instead of going for a nice walk later that day. I hope Thanksgiving die, because that would lead to more disaster and conflicts with Black Friday. Thus, everyone be thankful!
Morgan Mann
ReplyDelete5th period
http://inamerica.blogs.cnn.com/2011/11/24/thanksgiving-is-some-native-americans-day-of-mourning/?hpt=us_bn1
I normally get pretty excited for Thanksgiving, my family lives in town so I go to my dad’s side of the family for lunch and my mom’s side for dinner. I am able to see all of my cousins, aunts, uncles and grandparents. Everyone fixes yummy food and it is a good chance to enjoy each other’s presence and catch up. One thing that’s beginning to bother me though is that it seems like Thanksgiving is becoming more about Black Friday and less about spending time with your family and friends. Stores have even started opening on Thanksgiving night, instead of early morning the next day. In my opinion, people should be more focused on spending time with their families and creating traditions, even though I know Black Friday is a good time to save big time. Most people eat too much, including me, but one day a year isn’t a big deal.
This article on Thanksgiving surprised me a little bit. I never really knew the story behind Thanksgiving as well as I should. I always knew this holiday as a happy time, and everyone I know travels or plans a large meal with their family or friends nearby for this day. Thinking of this day as a sad time is definitely a different perspective for me. I will continue to enjoy this holiday, though for those who know this as a day to mourn, I respect that. Obviously not everyone in this world is going to agree on the same ideas, and we have to accept that. Thanksgiving means something different for Native Americans; it was a different story for them. For J. Lucy Boyd, it is a time for her to remember, though she does not let it affect her time to enjoy time with her family. I don’t hold anything against the Europeans or Indians; the world was being discovered during that time and we can’t control old actions. I will now know the other side of the story when Thanksgiving comes.
Sam Herbert
ReplyDeleteP5
One of the first things that I found wrong with this article was that the way I have always thought it was that the pilgrims were about to die and the Indians gave them some food and knowledge needed to survive here. I think that a national day of mourning is a bit of a joke personally. They don’t need that to get the message out. It just seems like a waste of some precious money. Though I find it hard to believe that this version of the story is taught at all.
My family always travels to Alabama to feast with my relatives but its usually very laid back, just some good food and some fun. My dad and I always have something to do in the wood shop so takes most of our time. We still get to watch TV and hang out with family. It never has any of these type of heave thought protruding into the light happy atmosphere.
This article didn’t change my view of thanksgiving at all. The name thanksgiving has always been kind of a figure head in my mind. It has never held much meaning so why should I change that on account of some others feelings. I also find it hard to believe that someone could hold a grudge for 400 years but, hey I guess you learn new things
Elisa Frazier
ReplyDelete5th
To me thanksgiving is a time to be with friends and family. For everyone its a break from life to just settle down and relax. I really don't see any cons to thanksgiving besides all the hassles involved with traveling. i think its a wonderful time of year because we get to get out of school and spend time with family. And memory's from thanksgiving will last forever.
i think some people have forgotten that thanksgiving is about the family and friends and not just the food.
Olivia Donahue
ReplyDelete1st period
Thanksgiving at my house is a huge deal. We have all our extended family from all over the country come down to celebrate, and my mom makes all the Thanksgiving dishes known to man. We all settle down as a family and spend some quality time with each other. Thanksgiving is probably one of my favorite holidays because of the time off from school, and the delicious food. Also, I absolutely love "Black Friday" shopping.
After reading this article, my perspective on this holiday has changed a bit. I have been taught that the first Thanksgiving meal was a sort of peace offering. Obviously this is wrong, and I think children should learn what really went on. However, I think nowadays Thanksgiving is just a good time to give thanks for all you have, enjoy good food, and spend time with loved ones.
William Bukowski
ReplyDelete5th period
12-1-11
Thanksgiving is important in all our lives here in the U.S. There are many pros about the holiday. We get time of to see family, like my family does and we get to spend the day together cooking foods and talking. We get to take a rest from daily life,we enjoy others company, and we enjoy good foods. There are some cons too though, like not remembering properly the Indians side of the story, and how they had helped the colonists farm well and have the meal in the first place. Then we turned on them and forced them to move, making them not as happy about Thanksgiving.
After reading the article it did change my view of the holiday. I felt like we were celebrating something magnificently, that should really be giving thanks to indians. The colonists wouldn’t have made it in the new world without the Native Americans guidance. Our country has depended on them many times, another example is Lewis and Clark, with Sacajawea. We should celebrate Thanksgiving, but we should thank the indians for it.
The native Americans were wronged when we kept taking there land away, until now where they have very little of their original land.They helped the settlers find ways to farm and make enough food to survive, they taught them there ways of life, and now they have no land. Some might say well then they shouldn’t have helped us, but what we did is like saying a nice person helps you and then you take all of his belongings away. Sacajawea helped us go from sea to shining sea and she had to take care of a baby. I think that we took advantage of the natives hospitality and wronged them.
Mia Spencer
ReplyDeletePeriod 5
My family doesn’t really make a huge deal about Thanksgiving. It kind of goes by in a blur for me because I have so many different meals with different parts of my family. I think it is an important holiday though, because it brings families together. Many families don’t get to see each other but a few times a year, maybe not even that. That’s why I think Black Friday is kind of a bad idea. I think families should be spending time with each other rather than shopping all night and into the morning. I think Black Friday should be the first Friday in December if there really needs to be one.
I genuinely feel sorry for the families that lost loved ones on and after this day but I still see the holiday the same way. I think those families just need to try to move on from the past and remember to be thankful for what they have now. However, it sounded like there is still some discrimination against Native Americans which I think is wrong if they are telling the truth. It’s hard to know exactly what happened back then so I think if people hear about it many people are going to be against the National Day of Mourning.
The European settlers had absolutely no right to kick the native Americans off of their land but I understand why they feared them. The native Americans and the settlers were just so scared of each. Both thought the other was strange and odd and scary. That’s why all the bad things happened. They didn’t have a very good way of communicating since they did not speak the same language and I think that was a huge problem. However, with that said, it was just mean and cruel for the settlers to kill so many of the native Americans and basically ruin their way of life.
Kevin Chen
ReplyDelete1st Period
I think Thanksgiving is a good holiday to celebrate. The date or how the holiday was started doesn't matter when it comes down to what the real meaning of Thanksgiving is supposed to be. A good chunk of my extended family lives in Taiwan and in New York, so on Thanksgiving we usually have friends and sometimes some family over. Our thanksgiving dinner consisted of ham, duck, and noodles, with fruit and pound cake.
I think the article changed my view of what happened then, but not my thinking of Thanksgiving. I understand that the Native Americans were wronged, and treated unfairly by the new pilgrims. The Native Americans didn’t deserve what they got, and the pilgrims should have been nice to the Native Americans, and they could have lived in peace. However, although the holiday was started as celebrating the pilgrims and harvests, I think that the holiday has evolved into something else over the centuries. I don’t think we should be celebrating the harm of Native Americans, nor truly the success of the settlers. I think that we should be giving thanks to the good things we have in life. The holiday shouldn’t be about what happened in the past, it should be about appreciating what we have now and celebrating what we do have. I think that these Native Americans should change their thinking of the holiday to a time to be thankful for what they have, instead of mourning what happened centuries ago.
I think most people celebrate Thanksgiving as just a day of giving thanks and being with their families, rather than celebrating whatever the settlers did back then. I understand that the Native Americans then suffered, but this holiday isn’t the right time to mourn about it.
Sadie Frank
ReplyDelete1st Period
My family celebrates Thanksgiving with a dinner, most of the time at my house. During all the years I remember Thanksgiving, we have gone to a different household twice - once, we visited my mother's brother in Pennsylvania, and we once went to a friend's house. Sometimes we'll have family over. For example, this past Thanksgiving, my aunt who lives in Wyoming came to visit, and my grandmother, who lives in an assisted living facility in Chapel Hill, also came. Sometimes we'll just have friends over, and have a very large party of people in our house. Lately, it's been quiet.
I knew that the Native Americans were wronged when the settlers came to America, and I believe that that was really horrible, but we're all past it now. People are still impacted, but it's been so long since it happened that we should just move on. By now, Thanksgiving is just a holiday where people get together with their families and give thanks for what they have.
Andrew Simms
ReplyDeleteP.2
Thanksgiving has always been celebrated at my house. We never go to any of my families because none live around us. When i read this article i had totally forgotten what the pilgrims had done to the native Americans. I always though thanksgiving was to meet with your family have fun and do whatever you felt like doing. Thanksgiving apparently does not have as joyful of a past as I thought. The native Americans who are American lost their land and there lives because of pilgrimage conquest. At my house we celebrate Thanksgiving by watching a UNC football game then siting down and eating a big meal of turkey stuffing and whatever happens to be made.
This article made me think of a whole new aspect to Thanksgiving. I use to just celebrate Thanksgiving and not know really why I was celebrating it at first. After I read this article I came to a conclusion. Why celebrate a holiday that started a war? which is exactly what i will think of every Thanksgiving but i will still celebrate it because of the time with family and the amazing food.
Melissa Galvan
ReplyDelete2nd Period
Thanksgiving has always been celebrated at my uncles house and then the next few days we go shopping since there are so many sales. Thanksgiving to me is a time to be with friends and family. For everyone its a break from life and all you do is relax. I really don't see any cons to thanksgiving besides all the hassles involved with traveling. i think its a wonderful time of year because we get to spend time with family.
I think some people have forgotten that thanksgiving is about the family and friends and not about the all food. This article has not changed the way I view Thanksgiving, but instead i see this holiday differently. I have never thought about how Native Americans perceive this holiday, so this article has shown me a new way to see it.There is also nothing not to like about this holiday, because you just eat a lot of food while hanging out with your family and friends.
Everett Dang
ReplyDelete2nd Period
Thanksgiving to me has always been a time to eat food. We've never really thought about actually giving thanks for anything. We don't really have family to come over to our house and celebrate with us, so we just eat a ton of food. I think it's a great time of year. I know the history of Americans coming over and finding Native Americans to teach them how to cultivate the land and such, so I feel like it's a bad way to treat your teachers like Americans did.
After reading this article I did not really know what to think. I mean we are celebrating giving thanks to the same American Indians that we drove out of their homeland. Honestly I feel like that's really stupid. The American Indians were treated horribly after the Americans had come, so why give thanks to that? If a war had come out of this, why are we giving thanks to it?
These days people just celebrate Thanksgiving to give thanks of what they have now. They come together with their families and have a huge lunch/dinner at an awkward time of day. It's odd to see how such a relaxed holiday could have come from a time of so much war and hatred.
Louisa Fine
ReplyDelete1st period
I have always enjoyed Thanksgiving with friends and family. I don’t see in anything wrong with getting together and celebrating and giving thanks to how lucky we have been. For me it is a time to enjoy myself but also to reflect upon how others may not be as fortunate. In my family we travel to either Pittsburgh or Denton, NC. As a tradition we always bake an apple pie with the same recipe my great grandmother used. When I was little we always went to her house on Thanksgiving but after she passed away we keep her in our memory by baking some of the things she used to bake on Thanksgiving.
I believe that the Native Americans were treated badly and they deserved more respect than they received from the Europeans. Even so I still think that Thanksgiving is a good time to celebrate our luck and family being together. I did not know that Thanksgiving was not exactly how it was taught in elementary school. I never thought about how it could be viewed by Native Americans. They seem to have a much different perspective on Thanksgiving. I think it was fine for the Europeans to explore the “new land” but they should have left the Native people alone.
Jamil
ReplyDelete5th
12/2/11
I have been celebrating Thanksgiving for a long time .Its a time where you meet with your family and have a good time eating. For me I like to have fun with the family eat and go to sleep. It’s nothing wrong with Thanksgiving and spending time with your family just like Christmas. The best part of Thanksgiving is to eat and spend time with my family. Another think that I like about thanksgiving is that Black Friday is like a day after.
After reading this article I found out some good information. I was growing up thinking that Thanksgiving was to celebrate with your family eat and have a good time. Even though my parents told me the right thing there is more to it. People need to read this article and think about what they are saying, and what happened.
I love Thanksgiving. It just gives you a chance to sit back relax and eat as much food as possible. A lot of times it also means spending time with family, but obviously Native Americans aren't so thankful for this holiday. It's basically a celebration of the end of living the was they did before, so I can see why they're a little bitter.
ReplyDeleteStill this isn't going to change my views of thanksgiving. I still love it just as much as I did a minute ago. Yeah it's a bad thing for the Native Americans, but there are people like that everywhere in the world. Next year when I sit down to eat at Thanksgiving the last thing I'll be thinking about are the Native Americans
Thanksgiving is an important holiday for me and my family. Since most of our relatives don't live here, we spend the day with our other Chinese friends and eat lots of food and give thanks for the good things that happened during the year. However, I know that for most families Thanksgiving is a time of reunion with family that they might not have seen in a while.
ReplyDeleteAfter reading the article, I kind of understand how the native Americans today feel. I mean, if people were giving thanks for something that led to the eventual colonization of my country and the loss of homes and property of my people, I would probably feel angry too, and wouldn't give thanks for that. However, the original Thanksgiving was a time where the pilgrims gave thanks for surviving, which none of us today can really understand. Living is really just something most of use take for granted, and I do believe that without the pilgrims we wouldn't be here today.
I believe that Europeans coming to America wasn't altogether a bad thing. If they simply took unowned land or interacted peacefully with the natives it would've been fine. However, they forcefully removed them from the land and killed many of the natives, which was a terrible thing to do. The colonist and natives would've both benefited from living peacefully with each other.
Waad Husein
ReplyDelete2nd Period
For many Americans, Thanksgiving has many pros. Thanksgiving holiday is a time to be with family and take a nice break from school and work. It's also like the opener to the holiday season. Thanksgiving has it's cons to the Native Americans who mourn about how they lost land to people who disrespected their traditions.
During Thanksgiving, my family is not the most festive, because they grew up in another country. Usually, my family and I watch the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade and spend time together.
My views haven't really changed, although i am more informed about the happenings in the past and how the holiday came about. I do believe the Native Americans were wronged by having their land taken from them and them now being the minority in their native land. Although, while I do believe that they should be able to mourn, they should know that everything happens for a reason. European settlers exploring American lands should be careful if they are invading someone else's territory and not cause conflicts with the natives.
Hugh Kelley, 5th
ReplyDeleteThere are many pros and cons of Thanksgiving. Before this article I tend to view the Pros. Like Spending time with family and friends, eating a lot, watching football
After reading this article I now understand the Cons of Thanksgiving. The cons are that the Native Americans who were living here when Europeans came lost their lives withen their tribe. They were due to the terrotism conflicts. There is now a National Day of Mourning for the Native Americans who lost ancestors.
In future thanksgiving Holidays I will take time to think about all those Native Americans who lost their life.
Leoni Wemmenhove
ReplyDeletePeriod 5th
Most Americans see thanksgiving as positive. The problem is that we don't know most of the history of thanksgiving, which has many negatives. My family doesn't do much for thanksgiving. We do eat turkey, but because my parents come from Holland, and none of the family we have live here, we celebrate it just with out family.
Being an European I feel sad that the native americans suffered so much because of the Europeans. This article made me think about how the Europeans could have acted differently.
This article doesn't change how I celebrate thanksgiving. That is because my family already didn't do much about it, and this article re-enforces to not make a such big holidag out of it. Thanksgiving sounded to me like I fairytale, but this article tells us the hard facts about it not being so perfect as it seems.I probably will celebrate my holiday like Christopher Paul Moore, because I still think it is important to be thankful on thanksgiving, but don’t make such a big deal out of it, because it wasn’t to perfect too in history.
Thanksgiving is not that important in my family as opposed to other families. We usually treat it like a regular day, and we will go to parties. This is probably because we are not American citizens, and our ancestors are not from America, therefore it holds no sentimental value to us. The only con I can think about it gaining weight!
ReplyDeleteI understand how Native Americans feel. I would not be happy if other people were celebrating the fall of my civilization. I also take in to consideration the despiration of the pilgrims to survive, a feeling that none of us would be able to relate to now.
For the Europeans coming to America, it was a bad thing for them to commit genocide. However, they were only trying to survive. either know they could have done it peacefully, they did not, which was a bad idea in the first place. I still am puzzled as to why they even committed genocide, because of the Native American's hospitality.
After reading this article I realized there are also cons of thanksgiving. To me the pros heavily outweigh the cons. Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday of the year because I get so see all my family again. A tradition of my family is that my mom’s brother comes down from Washington DC and we cook a huge meal. We spend all day cooking the turkey, watching football and watching parades. I have never been anywhere else besides my own house for thanksgiving. After wards we always have tons of left over’s and that’s almost better then the actual meal.
ReplyDeleteAfter reading this article my views on this holiday haven’t changed. We treated the Native Americans bad but I don’t see how that would have an effect on thanksgiving. The thanksgiving we celebrate now has no relations to how the Native Americans were treated. Today thanksgiving is about giving thanks and being with family. Why should anything ruin that? I love thanksgiving and my views will almost never change.
Blaire Sobolewski
ReplyDelete1st
Before reading this article I never thought of any cons to do with thanksgiving. I always thought of the pros like spending time with your family and just enjoying yourself. For thanksgiving my whole family gets together and has dinner, and just spends time together. We play games, and just generally have a good time together. To me Thanksgiving is a holiday where everyone gets together and spends time together.
After reading this article my thoughts on Thanksgiving were slightly changed. I realized that we celebrate thanksgiving for the completely wrong reason. We celebrate it because we think that the Native Americans arrived safely and were welcome, and everything went well, but that is actually the opposite of what did happen. Instead Thanksgiving is for mourning those who were lost, not their ‘safe’ landing.
Keith Swartz
ReplyDelete1st peroid
Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday. Thanksgiving is all about familys getting together and having fun. Also it is a great holiday because you get a break from work or school so you can spend time with your family and friends and watch football. I think Thanksgiving should not be turned into a day of sadness.
My opinion on Thanksgiving did not change after reading this article. I know that a lot of native americans died, but i think everyone should celebrate. I know that the pilgrims weren't nice to the native americans but neither were the native americans towards the pilgrims. I don't think this should matter and Thanksgiving should be celebrated like usual.
When I heard that we had to write about the pros and cons of Thanksgiving I started laughing. What could possibly be a con about Thanksgiving, gaining weight? Thanksgiving is by far my favorite holiday. What can be better than food, football, and fun? After reading this article, I feel bad for the Native Americans. They were treated poorly and denied their right to their own land.
ReplyDeleteThanksgiving will surely be looked upon as a holiday of remembrance and thankfulness toward Native Americans. I understand how Native Americans feel. I would not be happy if other people were celebrating the fall of my civilization. I also take in to consideration the despiration of the pilgrims to survive, a feeling that none of us would be able to relate to now. For the Europeans coming to America, it was a bad thing for them to commit genocide. However, they were only trying to survive. Either of these sides knew they could have done it peacefully, they did not, which was a bad idea in the first place. I still am puzzled as to why they even committed genocide, because of the Native American's hospitality. I guess they were just selfish.
Justin Mayo
ReplyDelete5th period
Thanksgiving shouldn't be turned into a day of mourning. It is about giving thanks and getting together with family and i think that making it a sad day would ruin it. The day of mourning can be on another day but I think that we should preserve thanksgiving.
The way I view thanksgiving has not really changed. Despite the many deaths and hardships of the Native Americans this is a holiday of happiness and thanks and we should keep it that way. I believe that a national day of remembrance should be made on another day of the year but not a happy holiday.
1st Period
ReplyDeleteHonors World History
To me I don't think that Thanksgiving should be a day of mourning because for one, everyone didn't have ancestors or family members that suffered the loss, or had to go through the series of events. I think that Thanksgiving is a day that a family comes together to appreciate each other and the things that they have. Though you should do this everyday, Thanksgiving is the main day you dedicate your thanks to.
Personally, my outlook on Thanksgiving will be the same as it's always been to me. The Native Americans may have introduced the holiday to many others, but I don't think that it should be only celebratory to Native Americans. Thanksgiving will continue to be a day for ANYONE to celebrate, cherish, and appreciate the things and people that they have in their life.
EMERY HARWELL
ReplyDeletePERIOD FIVE
I love Thanksgiving. It is most likely my favorite holiday. You get to see all your family which you might not see all year long, and of course the food is great. It is far less hectic than Christmas, because there is no shopping and stuff, but there is just enough going on for that holiday feel. I personally think Black Friday is ridiculous. Maybe it was OKAY when stores just opened an hour early, but now that people are staying up all night to get to stores at three o' clock in the morning, it is ridiculous. Thanksgiving is a time for family, and to appreciate what you have, not to go buy a bunch of crap.
As for Thanksgiving from the native american point of view, I feel kind of bad. I know i have never personally caused harm to them or their people, but knowing our ancestors did does not really sit with me the right way. Growing up, weren't we all taught that the native americans helped us, so we invited them to our feast and is was all happy go lucky and everyone loved each other? now that it has come out things went a tad differently, it doesn't feel like it really should anymore. Don't get me wrong! thanksgiving is still my favorite holiday, but that extra feeling of accomplishment and commradery is sort of gone.
Ian McKeown 5th
ReplyDelete12/4/12 (absent days. points should not be taken off)
My Thanksgiving traditions are very stereotypical and yet unique at the same time. My family starts off by all waking up at 8 and starting the cooking as a family. Then we send the Men off to pick up the final touches, meanwhile the women set the table and get the food on the table. My father then fills his plate first and takes what he would like first. After my mother does the same and then we follow this idea down the line of people via age going oldest to youngest. Therefore, I am ALWAYS last. Then we eat and discuss our favorite foods and our family history. I then clear the table while we all play a board game called sorry. After this we enjoy a dessert of 3 types of pies and ice cream. Then we go to sleep at 5 and prepare for black friday shopping that night.
This article opened my eyes to the hurt and pain others still feel that I did not think existed. I will now see Thanksgiving as not only a family meal, but also a memorial for those lost unfairly. I feel horribly for the families effected and for those lost. I only hope that others will realize this as well and slowly the meaning of thanksgiving to most will be changed to a more politically correct vision. I am lying. I do not believe in politically correct views. They are oppressing. These poor families have been through enough and I believe that they deserve our respect on this day.
Alex Haggis
ReplyDeletePd. 1
The article gives a very good point, that maybe we shouldn’t celebrate the oppression of another people. However, the holiday has evolved away from its original meaning over the years, for better or for worse. Just like everything else in America, it has been designed to benefit the unquenchable thirst for power of corporate greed. The holiday marks the beginning of the season where everyone goes out and buy frivolous things they don’t need with money they didn’t earn. Black Friday is a holiday created for our country’s undeniable addiction to the shopping center. When the American people are pepper spraying each other to get to the sale on XBox 360’s, you know we must have gone wrong somewhere.
It is sick and cruel irony that our day of peaceful thankfulness where we are thankful for all the things we have is followed by a violent brawl for the trivial things we don’t have. But that’s the other thing, even our day of thanks has been corrupted by the capitalist system and now it serves as an excuse for an already morbidly obese country to buy excessive amounts of food. Thankfulness falls by the way side when fried food is involved. So in conclusion, the corruption and indiscriminate hypocrisy of our holiday greatly overshadow any of its original messages--be those messages oppression of the natives, or our thankfulness.
Taylor Headen
ReplyDeletePeriod 1
When I think about thanksgiving I think about what most Americans think about, which is food and spending time with family. Me and my extended family would gather at a relative’s house and have a full coarse meal. We would eat, have fun and share a couple of laughs. But afterwards some of the family members would have to leave around 11 to go black Friday shopping. We might say what we thankful for, but that is the only thing that is significant to the holiday.
This article sort of changed the way I think about this holiday. It changed my thinking because it made me stop and think, we are supposed to be celebrating this holiday based on the pilgrims and Indians. But instead all we are worried about is food. I think that people should recognize the real meaning of thanksgiving, and not be thinking about food all the time.
Kat Westover
ReplyDeletePeriod 1
I believe that Thanksgiving is an important holiday. It is no longer just a time to celebrate the pilgrims coming to the New World. It is now a time to spend with family and friends. My family usually just relaxes on Thanksgiving. We do not usually have many errands to run. We eat a medium sized dinner. There is always a turkey and mashed potatoes.
This article does not change the way I view Thanksgiving. I still think of Thanksgiving as a time to spend with family. For the original pilgrims, it may have been a way to show their success, but not anymore. I believe that part of the reason Thanksgiving can be viewed negatively is because of what it first represented. The pilgrims probably thought it represented their superiority, but now it is a time to reflect on what is good in your life.
I do understand the Native American view though. It would be hard for me to celebrate a holiday that was originally meant to show how my ancestors were defeated. I believe that when the holiday was young, the Native Americans were wronged, but it is different now. A lot of different people celebrate Thanksgiving for different reasons. It isn’t just about how the pilgrims came over anymore.