To indigenize this holiday is to learn that we should be grateful every day.
For those who intend to celebrate Thanksgiving, I offer, as a starting point with hope you’ll continue to grow and learn, three ways to decolonize and indigenize the holiday.
First, tell the truth [such as in The True, Dark History of Thanksgiving].... The most powerful thing we can do is get rid of the myth while still holding the sacredness of our time together. Start by telling the truth, and even consider holding this holiday as a day of mourning in solidarity with Indigenous folks.
Next, celebrate Indigenous foods and cultures. Buy books by Indigenous authors to read from during your time with family and friends, and order cookbooks like The New Native Kitchen, getting ingredients from Indigenous protectors of the land or Afro-Indigenous farmers who are tending land across the country....
Third, make a plan.... One way to honor us is to make a plan for the coming year (without directly messaging Indigenous folks for information). Start in November and map out ways you can learn about Indigenous cultures by telling the truth and celebrating who we are throughout the year.
Begin with your home first, with the land you currently dwell on. Start there, learning about the peoples of the land, both past and present. Make tangible commitments to learn more, and learn alongside others ... and challenge institutions around you to do better by Indigenous peoples.
Read books, listen to podcasts, order wild rice from organizations like Honor the Earth, and make a dish to serve to your closest friends....
Instead of thinking of decolonization as a list of things to do, think of it as an embodiment, something you are already becoming as a decolonizing being
— Kaitlin B. Curtice in Living Resistance