by Miranda Searcy
Once my children were old enough to go to school, I began to dread the month of November. Though it has become better over the years, inevitably one of my kiddos would come home with a “native American craft” that they had made at school. As the kids have grown, I have made sure to tell them how the first Thanksgiving really went down, how Christopher Columbus was a jerk, how we ended up in Oklahoma, and that we did not dress like the romanticized holiday decorations.
To me, Thanksgiving was never about the pilgrims and Indians, or Plymouth rock or gold buckled shoes. Thanksgiving was a dedicated day where we, as a family, gather to break bread. In our increasingly busy and complicated lives it is more important than ever that we cherish these moments together as family (no matter what family means to you).
Just as Christ broke bread at the last supper, may we also be reminded this holiday season that we gather not as we ought, but as we are able. Rejoice with shouts of thanksgiving for what God has accomplished in your lives not only this year, but in the age to come.
Miranda Searcy, an enrolled member of the United Keetowah Band of Cherokee Indians in Oklahoma, serves on the churchwide executive board.
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Thanks, Miranda. When I taught 5th grade Social Studies I tried very hard to teach “real” history and undo the fake art. When I taught future teachers in college I found many of them needed the lessons in real world history, too.