Preparing for Turkey Day

Native Americans and ThanksgivingTeachers work very hard and receive little respect for their work. And, they are underpaid, too, often spending chunks of their too-small salary to buy things their school cannot provide. Due to lack of time and resources, teachers often recycle activities from one year to the next. I think Thanksgiving reeactments are one of those things. Developing new ways of teaching about Thanksgiving will take time and money. Before that can happen, however, teachers must learn more about Pilgrims, Indians, and "The First Thanksgiving."

They can start with Deconstructing the Myths of "The First Thanksgiving," a free resource available at Oyate. It includes three lists of books: 1) Recommended Books about Thanksgiving, 2) "Books to Avoid" about Thanksgiving, and 3) Primary Sources from a Colonialist Perspective.