A Live Conversation: Decolonizing Thanksgiving with Hopi and Haudenosaunee Elders
Please tune in this TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 24th at
9AM PT / 10AM MT / 11AM CT / 12PM ET
for a Facebook Live Event
Hopi elders and artisans Augustine Mowa, Frances Quotskuyva, Tim Mowa, Lendrick Lomayestewa, and Iva Honyestewa will join Haudenosaunee Elder Krissy Hill, Eco-theologian Sara Jolena Wolcott, and One Light Global Founder Zoë Wild "around the fire" to talk about:
• What is the true origin story of Thanksgiving?
• Is there a way we can celebrate this secular holiday that we love, while still honoring and respecting the first nations of this land?
• What are different ways first peoples observe this day?
• What can we tell our children about this holiday?
• How has maintaining the myth served and harmed us all?
• How can more recent immigrants to the USA relate to this story?
• What can we collectively create when we become honest as a nation and engage in dialogue that acknowledges all aspects of our shared story?
This Thursday we celebrate Thanksgiving – a holiday of coming together around the table, with friends and family, in gratitude for this year’s harvest and all that we share in our lives. What could be more beautiful?
Yet, the American Mythology around Thanksgiving is highly delusional. It disregards the complex history of the actual events that took place, the genocide of millions of Native Americans, and the current reality for all who now live in this on this land.
This month marks the 400th anniversary of the Mayflower landing in Plymouth Harbor. When we deny the complexity of the situation, we lose the capacity to create meaning from an informed perspective. Now, more than ever, as a divided nation during a pandemic, we are asked for the courage to enter into dialogues of truth, reconciliation, reparation, and a new way forward so we can build the future on solid ground.
Rather than inviting everyone to a seat at the table, as our friend Kristine Hill says: come bring a piece of your table to our fire, and let’s see what we discover.
The FB live will be 1 hour of discussion and Q&A. We so look forward to seeing you there! You can also reply to this email with any questions that you would like us to ask the group.
CLICK HERE TO JOIN THE FB LIVE on Tuesday, November 24th 9AM PT / 10AM MT / 11AM CT / 12PM ET (You do not need a FB account to access the link/livestream)
We acknowledge that the content and complexity of this conversation holds with it an emotional and ancestral weight. We are in deep gratitude to the Hopi and Haudenosaunee elders willing to have it. Please consider donating to our Natwanhooyam project in partnership with sovereign elders (joining this conversation) and children of the Hopi Nation and Soöngopavi Village Arizona. Your donation makes a huge difference in the lives of these children. Thank you! Donate Here.