Decolonizing Thanksgiving

Decolonizing Thanksgiving

In 2016, Bioneers made a commitment to decolonize Thanksgiving, by recognizing and sharing the truth of what this holiday means for Native Americans and all Americans.

On this page, you can find resources to learn more about what it means to decolonize Thanksgiving, from articles to videos, and curriculum.

Join the movement to celebrate the real history of Thanksgiving, start conversations with your family and friends, and create new traditions.

How To Decolonize Thanksgiving

 
The traditional story of the First Thanksgiving, told to America children in grade school is a myth. For the true story of what happened, and how Indigenous lives have been affected ever since, we spoke to Chris Newell (Passamaquoddy), the Akomawt Educational Initiative’s Director of Education.
Article

The True, Indigenous History of Thanksgiving

 
This blog post shares some ideas for new traditions you can include at your Thanksgiving this year to better honor the Native Americans, immigrants, and their descendants who contribute to our country’s diversity.
Article

3 Ways to Decolonize Thanksgiving

 
Bioneers Indigeneity Program Co-Director Alexis Bunten shares some ideas for how we can transform Thanksgiving, and how we can “Indigenize” it, no matter who we are, in ways that are culturally respectful to Native Americans.
Article

How to “Indigenize” Thanksgiving

 
It’s time to Decolonize Thanksgiving by bringing people around the table to honor and recognize the truth of the holiday. Here’s how we can all take part.
Article

What Are You Doing To Decolonize Thanksgiving This Year?

 
Alexis Bunten describes how she has shared the true history of Thanksgiving, and provided guidance for how and where to show up in solidarity with Native Peoples in this annual Thanksgiving blog.
Article

What do Native Americans REALLY think of Thanksgiving?

Educational Resources

Click on the links below for Thanksgiving Curriculum meticulously researched and written by Native American content creators. Learn the real history of Thanksgiving from a Native American perspective. Access lesson plans and activities that are inclusive of all children, and actively avoid the perpetuation of lies and stereotypes

 
This set of modular lessons introduces early-grade students to Thanksgiving learning activities, arts and crafts designed to teach young children about the importance of sharing, valuing nature, animal behavior, the three sisters, and more.
Curriculum

Thanksgiving Curriculum and Activities Grades K-1

 
This lesson deconstructs the story of Thanksgiving and reframes it from a Native American perspective. Students will learn the significance of annual times of harvest in the Wampanoag and Pilgrim cultures by comparing and contrasting the ways in which these holidays were observed.
Curriculum

The Real Thanksgiving Lesson Plan & Teacher Guide

 
This book is a comprehensive dive into the feast at Plimoth and the history leading up to it. Carefully crafted to explore both sides of this historical event, this book is a great choice for Thanksgiving units, and for teaching children about this popular holiday.
Book

If You Lived During the Plimoth Thanksgiving

 
Alexis Bunten, Co-Director of the Bioneers Indigeneity Program and curriculum developer, guides attendees the learning activities, arts and crafts designed to teach young children about the importance of sharing, valuing nature, animal behavior, the three sisters, and more.
Video

How to Teach Thanksgiving: Resources for Young Children

Find out whose ancestral territories you are living on

Explore the interactive map below, developed by the team at Native-land.ca, to learn whose ancestral territories you are living on. Once you’ve done this, go ahead and take the next step: learn how to create a meaningful and appropriate land acknowledgement using the toolkit developed by the team at the California Indian Culture and Sovereignty Center and Palomar College American Indian Studies. Download the Land Acknowledgement PDF Toolkit.

Beyond Thanksgiving – Resources for Decolonizing Your Life

The Thanksgiving holiday is just a starting point in the decolonization movement. Check out these resources to learn more about what it means to decolonize your life from the landback movement to decolonizing street names, food, and more.

 
What is decolonization? Following an interview with Alexis Bunten (Aleut/Yup’ik), co-director of Bioneers’ Indigeneity program, we explore the Indigenous history, settler-colonialism and the meaning of decolonization.
Article

What Is Decolonization?

 
In this interview with Alexis Bunten, we explore how colonialism has evolved, its relationship with capitalism, and how this guides us to understanding decolonization.
Article

What Is Decolonization?: In Conversation with Alexis Bunten

 
Rupa Marya, M.D., is exploring how to create a medical system that serves everyone through numerous projects aimed at researching our current medical climate and collaborating with marginalized populations to make healthcare more effective and compassionate.
Article

Decolonizing Healthcare: Addressing Social Stressors In Medicine

 
In this interview with Bioneers’ Arty Mangan, A-dae Romero-Briones (Cochiti/Kiowa) is a compelling voice against the injustices of colonization inflicted on native people and for the acknowledgment of indigenous people’s land stewardship as a basis for regenerative agriculture.
Article

Decolonizing Regenerative Agriculture: An Indigenous Perspective

 
Leading Indigenous educator Cutcha Risling Baldy provides a three-step approach to re-imagining climate and environmental justice in California and beyond, focusing on concrete actions that challenge us to dream better futures together.
Video

Dr. Cutcha Risling Baldy – Indigenous Voices for Decolonized Futures

 
Indigenizing street names is a critical strategy for raising awareness of the disproportionate ongoing harms settler colonialism imparts on Indigenous peoples and other marginalized groups in the US.
Article

Why We Should Indigenize Place Names

 
In this important piece, community organizer/philanthropist Hilary Giovale and the Decolonizing Wealth Project founder Edgar Villanueva discuss steps to bridge the colonial divide in America, by first acknowledging America’s violent history and then taking active steps to heal from the intergenerational wounds that affect us all.
Article

Healing From Colonization on Thanksgiving and Beyond

Additional Resources

Learn more from tribes and organizations specifically associated with the Thanksgiving story.

Learn about leading organizations doing decolonization and education work.

Our new Bioneers podcast series, Indigeneity Conversations, features deep and engaging conversations with Native culture bearers, scholars, movement leaders, and non-Native allies on the most important issues and solutions in Indian Country. The series is hosted by Bioneers Indigeneity Program Directors Cara Romero (Chemehuevi) and Alexis Bunten (Unangan/Yup’ik).

Indigeneity Conversations explores compelling issues such as Indigenous Land Return, Cultural Appropriation, Rights of Nature and other essential conversations that exemplify the essential leadership role that Indigenous cultures are playing in the effort to reshape and transform society’s relationship with the natural world while highlighting the contemporary lives, work and experiences of Native Americans.

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