To be honest, Squanto was an Algonquin and his tribe pretty much stayed in the Northeast. The Oklahoma territory was made up of other tribes like the Shawnee, the Apache, Caddo, Cherokee, Chickasaw, Potawatomi, Muscogee, Osage, Pawnee, and many others. So really, on a historical level, this joke is highly inaccurate. 1/10. Would not settle again.
To be honest, as a whitest of white male in Oklahoma, Thanksgiving has always been kind of weird to me. It’s a celebration of a bunch of refugees coming into a new land and eventually just taking it over and causing countless horrible acts. Doesn’t it seem weird that we nationally celebrate an event that led to the genocide of an indigenous people? And it just goes on without anyone being like “Hey hold on, isn’t this a little absurd?” When I married my beautiful Osage wife, I felt uneasy at the Thanksgiving table because here was her family and then me just sitting there knowing that at some point in time my ancestors probably kicked the puppies of her ancestors. But they were thankful I was there because I made her happy. And really that’s what Thanksgiving is about. It’s not in remembrance of the Pilgrims learning to plant corn and fish, or even the Algonquins feasting with the Mayflower passengers after a year of cooperation. It’s about being thankful for what you have and realizing how good you have it. I am so thankful for my friends, my family (even if they drive me a little nuts sometimes), my daughter, my house, my readers, my dog, my fans, and my life. I am so lucky and so thankful and I don’t say it enough. Thanksgiving is about realizing how fortunate we all are…and then I guess celebrating that fact by eating more than we possibly could while millions are starving worldwide?
…Yeah, Thanksgiving is pretty messed up TBH.
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