The Hidden Story of Thanksgiving

It’s that time of year when people are getting the family together for Thanksgiving. Some people have a big feast and celebrate giving back to others while being thankful for a holiday they don’t know the origin of. Native Americans, who know the origin of Thanksgiving, celebrate a little differently. The mass genocide of their people and wiping of the Native American ethnicity was masked by a random feast of the pilgrims.

After the feast took place in the fall of 1621, an estimated three hundred thousand Native Americans died by violence, and even more, were displaced in New England over the next few decades. When asked about it, a few students at Waukee High School had different views on the holiday. Carson Crigger, a sophomore, says it is “a fun holiday and a good time to spend with family”. When he was asked about how Thanksgiving began, he said “it started because the Native Americans and pilgrims had a meal”. Another sophomore, Summer Nichols, said “the Europeans traveled here, and sat down and ate dinner with the Native Americans” when asked about the origin of Thanksgiving as well.

This shows how most high school students don’t know about the genocide of Native Americans since it was over-masked over a feast. This is why people should know about the true origin of Thanksgiving.