Unthanksgiving Day / National Day of Mourning

[Jack Ryan]

Another view on the 'thanksgiving' threads being posted here today....

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Unthanksgiving Day

Unthanksgiving Day, also known as The Indigenous Peoples Sunrise Ceremony, is an event held on Alcatraz Island in San Francisco Bay to honor the indigenous peoples of the Americas and promote their rights. It coincides with a similar protest, the National Day of Mourning, held in Massachusetts. Held annually since 1975, the Alcatraz ceremony commemorates the protest event of 1969, where the Alcatraz-Red Power Movement (ARPM) occupied the island.

The event is designed to commemorate the survival of Native American peoples following the settlement of Europeans in the Western Hemisphere, which led to genocide and enormous economic and cultural losses among the indigenous from disease, warfare and social disruption. Organizers want it to serve in contrast to the traditional American Thanksgiving story in which the Pilgrims supposedly shared a meal with Native Americans.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unthanksgiving_Day

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The National Day of Mourning

The National Day of Mourning is an annual protest organized since 1970 by Native Americans of New England on the fourth Thursday of November, the same day as Thanksgiving in the United States. It coincides with an unrelated similar protest, Unthanksgiving Day, held on the West Coast.

The organizers consider the national holiday of Thanksgiving Day as a reminder of the democide and continued suffering of the Native American peoples. Participants in the National Day of Mourning honor Native ancestors and the struggles of Native peoples to survive today. They want to educate Americans about history. The event was organized in a period of Native American activism and general cultural protests. The protest is organized by the United American Indians of New England (UAINE).

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Day_of_Mourning_(United_States_protest)

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A Thanksgiving bonfire at dawn: celebrating Native American resistance on Alcatraz

The Guardian (UK), Thursday, November 22, 2018

While most people are still asleep, thousands gather each year to remember the occupation that helped inspire the modern Native American protest movement

At 4.30am on Thanksgiving morning, the sun had yet to rise over Alcatraz Island in the San Francisco Bay. Yet more than 5,000 people were gathered in a hushed circle around a burning pyre, as Native American dancers moved and swayed in the flickering light.

Welcome to the Indigenous People’s Thanksgiving Day, formerly known as Unthanksgiving Day. While most Americans are still asleep, this annual tradition commemorates the 19-month occupation of Alcatraz – famed for its now disused prison – by Native American activists from 1969-1971.

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2018/nov/22/thanksgiving-native-american-sunrise-ceremony-alcatraz-occupation-protest