Supporting the Native Americans for Thanksgiving

I've never really been a fan of Thanksgiving along with the major other holidays. It's weird to me that people celebrate something based on misconstrued history. We all know what happened to the Native American Indians after they saved the lives of the pilgrims.

I guess some people just over look that little fact and claim this holiday as a time to be thankful for things in their lives. Well I was never one to over look little facts.

As usual I side with the Native Americans this Thanksgiving as I've done in the past. I refuse to celebrate this "holiday" and what society "suggests" I should be doing around this time.

This year I'm very concerned about trying to raise a socially aware child. I want Daniel to know and honor all people and their cultures. So I started researching online what I can do with him since this month is National American Indian and Alaska Native Heritage Month.

While I can't claim any connection to the American Indians of the USA, I suspect I have some claim to the Native Indians in Guyana in my family history. I suspect more on my father's side of the family but it could be from either of my parents. Anyway, I'm not the only one. Did you know that many African Americans can claim having Native American ancestry? There's currently an exhibit that highlights this invisible story

The exhibition IndiVisible: African-Native American Lives in the Americas is a collaboration between the Smithsonian’s National Museum of the American Indian, National Museum of African American History and Culture, and the Smithsonian Institution Travelling Exhibition Service (SITES).

African and Native peoples came together in the Americas. Over centuries, African Americans and Native Americans created shared histories, communities, families, and ways of life. Prejudice, laws, and twists of history have often divided them from others, yet African-Native American people were united in the struggle against slavery and dispossession, and then for self-determination and freedom.

For African-Native Americans, their double heritage is truly indivisible.

You can check the exhibit tour schedule to find out when it will be in your area. Since I can't travel to the DC exhibit I'm going to visit the The National Museum of the American Indian here in NYC with my son this month and see what cool activities they have.

 Join me if you like =)