Many Americans share the idea of the national holiday of Thanksgiving of being thankful for what they have. They also remember the Pilgrims and Native Americans first cheerful and tranquil thanksgiving, that they were taught by their family and their teachers. Many people believe that the first Thanksgiving consisted of the Native Americans and the Pilgrims celebrating a successful harvest that they cultivated together peacefully. But in reality the first proclaimed day of Thanksgiving was not a peaceful celebration- it was a celebration of genocide.

In 1637, in present day Mystic, Connecticut the governor of the Massachusetts Bay Colony proclaimed ‘Thanksgiving Day’ to be a holiday to celebrate the safe return of the colonial heavily armed volunteers. These colonists had just returned from slaughtering 700 Native American men, women, and children.

The Pequot Native Americans were celebrating their Green Harvest Festival that was held every year during the end of fall. But, suddenly the colonists came to their village and demanded that everyone leave their teepees and come outside. Those who did were brutally clubbed to death or shot; all while the people who huddled together inside the longhouse watched. The longhouse for the was filled with women, men, and children. Then the Pilgrims burned the longhouse down, burning the people inside alive.

Most sources find this event to be historically accurate, such as The Huffington Post, Waking Times, and The Manataka American Indian Council. Still, each source has small inconsistencies. And other sources say that the first Thanksgiving wasn’t a New England creation, but a Texas holiday praising the return of the Spanish Explorer, Don Juan de Onate. Others report that Thanksgiving had been around for thousands of years before, but as a celebration and thanks after a harvest. While, many Native Americans use the fourth Thursday of November as a day of mourning. Overall, it seems as if their are many conflicting and controversial ideas about what Thanksgiving truly is.

The majority of Americans grow up taught the traditional, white washed, idea of Thanksgiving by their teachers, or their parents who were taught as well. Many teachers teach unaltered lessons or teach through textbooks that might not tell the whole story. But, it is not the teachers at fault. They are one of the most hard-working and important people. They teach children history so they can respect other nations, apply past grievances into present day situations to prevent bad things, they teach students the history so they can have empathy and not make the same mistakes in the future. I did not learn the truth about all the hardships that the Native Americans have endured and overcome until eighth grade when I had a wonderful teacher that had previously taught at a Native American Reservation and believed in letting us know the truth. Before, near Thanksgiving my teachers told me stories of the Native Americans helping the Pilgrims and living peacefully. My classmates and I made hand print turkeys and thought of things to be thankful for. In addition I learned the story of Pocahontas through Disney. Pocahontas was a young woman who saved a colonist John Smith from being clubbed to death and fell in love. In reality Pocahontas was captured and held prisoner in Jamestown for a year at the age of 17 until a man named John Rolfe agreed to release her if she married him. I also learned to see Christopher Columbus as a hero, but he was a slave trader.

People aren't being taught the sad and unfortunate truth. The immigrants who came to America not only brought new traditions and ways; they also brought diseases that Native Americans had no immunity to. These same diseases wiped out 90% of the Native American population. Native Americans were also massacred- in fact the battle that gave the soldiers the most medals of honor was the Wounded Knee Massacre. Two hundred Dakota nation, men, women, and children were killed and the soldiers received twenty medals of honor. They were awarded twenty medals of honor for killing over two hundred innocent Native American people. This is not to say that the Native American people were a weak group of people, they won battles against the United States Army- and are a very strong group of people. Also, early American's took the land that they had lived on for thousands of years and claimed it as their own. One of the biggest examples of this was the ‘Indian Removal Act’ issued by president Andrew Jackson. Jackson ordered tens of thousands of Native Americans to leave their valuable east coast land and move to the barren ‘Indian Country’ in present day Oklahoma. Thousands of people died because of this. But, it didn’t stop there. Native Americans were continually forced to move. Nowadays Native Americans are living in government chosen reservations.

In the U.S. there are 310 reservations and 565 federally recognized tribes, and many more that aren’t recognized. Out of the 5.2 million Native American’s in the U.S. about 22% of Native Americans live on reservations. Reservations are comparable to the living conditions of a third world country, except they are inside of the world’s most wealthy first world countries. Many reservations struggle with unemployment. Many people have to commute two to three hours to work. Overall the unemployment rate is 49%, but is as high as 85% on some reservations, compared to the U.S. 5.3% national unemployment rate. The high school dropout rate can range from 30% to 70%, while the Caucasian dropout rate is 24%. One of the reasons for this is the education inequality. A teacher of mine who taught on a reservation was at the time the lowest paid teacher in the U.S. Also, 90,000 Native Americans are homeless or under housed; and, 40% of houses on reservations are considered inadequate and only 50% are connected to a public sewer system. Some households have upwards of twenty people living inside of them while others don’t have heated water or food security. The suicide rate on reservations is three times higher than the national average. On a reservation in South Dakota there were five suicides in one school week in December of 2015. A teacher who taught at a reservation explained that many commit suicide because, “there's little hope on reservations.” Another issue that plagues Native American communities is alcohol and substance abuse. Many Native Americans struggle with alcoholism or have been affected by it. A Native American high schooler living on a reservation said, “Over here on the… reservation this issue has broken homes and hearts… We call alcohol “white man’s water.” We use that term because that's who has introduced it into our well being” She also mentions, “Over half the population on this reservation drink alcohol starting at a very young age... There is a lot of sadness here so some try numbing their pain with with alcohol or other negative things… My family broke apart due to my parents letting “white man’s water” take over our lives. It is hard knowing many families are like mine… This issue leads to permanent decisions like prison or suicide… On my reservation alcohol controls lives. Leading to broke homes and families, lose of education, and friends and family.” Another high schooler explains,”The use of drugs affects everyone, even those who don’t do drugs or alcohol… I think that if drugs and alcohol were to disappear then we wouldn’t be the poorest reservation in the U.S.” Still, many Native Americans have overcame their hardships and gone on to become members of the U.S. senate, competed in the Olympics and won gold medals, dance in the New York ballet, as well as many other achievements..