University of Wisconsin-Madison
by Professor Sean Teuton, AIS Director
Originally published in the Fall 2003 AIS Newsletter
My mother baked pumpkin pies on Thanksgiving, and I can’t remember eating pie at any other time of the year. Maybe it’s the singularity of the holiday that makes me remember it so fondly. My mother stood at the kitchen counter, stirring and pouring, my brothers and I stalking about like wolves, waiting for a spoon to lick. If we fought over it, no one got it. But the best part about those mornings, with the house full of the good smells of pumpkin, nutmeg, turkey, and sage, was the thrilling expectation of cousins, aunts, and, especially, uncles to arrive in the afternoon. My brothers and I played basketball with our uncle, who was a Vietnam vet, and he played for keeps. Eventually called inside, we watched my grandfather lift the massive turkey from the oven and place it in the center of a line of picnic tables set in the house.
This was how we ate, all of us at one wonderfully long table, my mother’s family, together. We gave thanks to be healthy and still in one place. I don’t know how life can improve on such events.
After the prayer, there was usually a joke about being Indians and eating with Pilgrims. From my mother’s side of the family, the Indian side, I learned the general idea of Thanksgiving: we helped the Pilgrims plant, and on the first harvest brought food to the Pilgrims for a feast both Indians and Pilgrims sat down for. So it was confusing as a child to learn that some Americans believed it was the Pilgrims who fed the Indians and the Indians didn’t even sit at the table. This discovered contradiction between “our” history and “theirs” perhaps typifies the experience of being Native in the United States. (more…)
For years Geronimo fought the United States military to defend Apache lands. On the hope of returning to his family, he finally surrendered in 1886. To many, he is the most famous Indian in America—but likely for different reasons. On May 2, 2011, when US Operatives killed Osama bin Laden, the world’s most wanted terrorist, they confirmed using the assigned code name, “Geronimo E-KIA” that is, “Geronimo the enemy is killed in action.” Americans cheered in the streets, not feeling so united since 9/11.
But does America view the defenders of Indigenous land and life as terrorists, allowing romantic frontier memories to fuel the celebration? Despite this equation, should Native Americans join in? Or should Native nations request a formal apology from President Obama?
AIS is inviting dialogue on this question, so make your voices heard! Email AIS here, and let us know what you think. With your permission, we’ll post your responses later this month.
