The traditional holiday we happy little colonial Americans love to call Thanksgiving. I cannot help but grimace in the ideals and questionable morals behind this plasticity coated, somewhat capitalist yet giddy holiday. 

The essence of Thanksgiving is complex. Or shall I render myself more to the conspicuous description of “complicated”. To say the word Thanksgiving is to recall imagery of familiar comforts such as hugs and I don’t know, praise. Whatever families do to make one another more comfortable. Whether your aunt is a raging sociopath or you actually get along with one another is a concept I shall not exert myself to ponder. 

Getting down to my slowly plucking a part of the holiday, please allow myself to overly explain this simple celebration and somehow convince you it’s more than just being civil and breaking bread. 

My own education, or indoctrination of this holiday has led me to believe the typical tomato tom-a-to story of: ‘Colonists needed help, Native Americans helped, Thanksgiving.’ The scholastic time I have spent studying this holiday makes up for the perfect amount of white-washed flavour to an already burnt piece of toast, but let’s dive more into it with actual, not scripted by the fluctuated whoever controls the education of youth these days; opinions from history teachers who are much more qualified to speak upon this than I. 

“The more you are a student of history, a student of anthropology and a student of culture, then the more this becomes part of the white wash, part of the narrative that is not the narrative that native people tell.”

Patrick Harvey had many delicious opinions about my topic including this one, but let’s not undermine his wonderful display of lovely morality. 

‘What needs to continue to happen is the viewpoints of people who are adversely affected by the colonization of America, that story needs to continue to be told and respected. However that will not in any way diminish the value in what I value, which is spending some time with family.” 

There is a quality to Thanksgiving that is, in my memory, relatively wholesome. Thanksgiving lacks that huge gift-giving part of it, there isn’t the massive saturation of marketing. He told me that his European friends, to them, Thanksgiving is what Christmas is to us. However, lacking the hug gift-giving aspect, of course. 

Gazing more closely upon the, shall I dare say argument? I have attempted to make through this article, I have a beautifully executed judgement made by Vandy. 

To Vandivier “There’s certainly some oppression when you look at it in terms of celebrating it based upon the idea of the Native Americans and Colonists getting along.” 

Again, the incorrect standpoint of what the unfortunate better half of students in America view the holiday to represent.

However, again, I do not wish to undermine the good looking aspect of the somewhat saccharine yet kind celebration. Having a day where families are allowed to be thankful for what they have been given and fed on a silver spoon is vividly important.