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BLUFF, Utah (AP) – Willson Atene recalls making feather headdresses out of construction paper at his San Juan County school. He also remembers learning the traditional Thanksgiving story of the friendship between the pilgrims and the Indians.
Atene lives in Salt Lake City and his younger siblings attend schools in the San Juan School District. They also learned that Indians helped the pilgrims survive, taught them farming techniques, and celebrated with them at a large festival.
When Atene, 27, returns to his family for the holiday weekend, they’ll honor a different story, the Salt Lake Tribune reported.
Atenes’ family is one of many in San Juan County who celebrate the holiday with a different perspective on the 400-year-old history of the festival between the Wampanoags and First Thanksgiving Pilgrims, a story shared in elementary schools across Utah.
The prevailing version of the Thanksgiving story often skips an awkward story. In real history, for example, the alliance between the colonists and the tribe quickly turned sour as the Europeans found ways to conquer more and more land, leading to King Philip’s War that resulted in the deaths of about 40% of the tribe.
For many Indians, the first Thanksgiving marked the beginning of a brutal colonization of indigenous peoples.
The San Juan school district primarily serves students from Diné (Navajo) and Ute. How much of the traditional Thanksgiving story is taught is up to the local teachers and schools.
All over Utah, second graders are learning Thanksgiving as a civil holiday, and fifth graders are beginning to delve into the effects of colonization, including the historical record of how Native Americans clashed with European colonists, says Mark Peterson, Utah director of public relations State school board.
“We don’t take positions on how people teach things,” said Robert Austin, humanities coordinator for the Utah State Board of Education. “We have standards and then the school districts teach those standards.”
Brenda Beyal, a former elementary school teacher in Utah County’s Nebo School District, said the state curriculum in Utah will have to change around Thanksgiving.
“It’s anchored in the curriculum and I use the word ‘rooted’ consciously,” says Beyal, who is Diné. She is the program coordinator for the BYU Arts Partnership, which has created resources for teachers in Utah, including the Native American Curriculum Initiative.
The BYU Arts Partnership worked with the Utah Education Network (UEN) to provide teachers with advice on cultural awareness around the holidays. The guide also lets teachers know how to teach about Native American Heritage Month in November. The Utah State Board of Education Social Studies and the Utah Division of State History also support the guidelines of the UEN.
“I never taught the colonized version of Thanksgiving,” Beyal said. “I have taught that there are many indigenous people who have harvest meals. And it was a time for us to be grateful for things. And I also used it to help them realize that they were on the ancestral land of people who lived here a long time ago. “
This year, Beyal will honor “thank-hyphen-giving” by recognizing that indigenous food remains an important aspect of this harvest season.
Renae Gene will spend eight hours roasting a turkey in the earth on fire and coals on Thanksgiving, in honor of her Diné-and-Ute culture. This is how her father and great grandfather cook, and how she teaches her three children stories they won’t learn in a classroom.
She plans to share the meal with family and friends.
“Yeah, it’s got more flavor and juice and everything,” said Gene from Westwater, which is just outside Blanding, “so it’s very tasty.”
It doesn’t read too much into the historical context of the Thanksgiving holiday. Instead, she focuses on being the mother and caregiver of her family and letting the vacation align with the values of her cultures.
Before the pandemic, Gene said her three children were taught the classic First Thanksgiving story while attending class in the San Juan County School District, but the lesson didn’t happen last year when the school was remotely taught.
The county gives out gift cards to help families on Thanksgiving, and Gene values the tradition.
Dalene Redhouse loves to decorate for Thanksgiving and says she celebrates by being grateful for her life and family. Her late father grew up an orphan and learned to celebrate holidays like Thanksgiving and Christmas while he was a cowherd in Blanding. Her mother, who had siblings, grew up listening to Christian teachings.
This year, Redhouse plans to add side dishes to the turkey their daughter will be making.
Tara Benally, who is both Diné and Hopi, isn’t going to party with a turkey. She says she does her best to “decolonize” American and Utah holidays, such as Thanksgiving and Pioneer Day, with traditions from her Diné and Hopi cultures.
For Atene, turkey, mashed potatoes, green beans, and pies don’t have much to do with the vacation.
“We don’t necessarily celebrate the westernized, local Thanksgiving of the indigenous people who hang out with pilgrims,” he said. “We hold ceremonies and open this day with healing and so that we can reconnect as a family.”
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https://apnews.com/article/lifestyle-native-americans-utah-holidays-thanksgiving-4b04788c9832631e1ada5eca1a4b4774
