This Friday is
Native American Day.
For some it is just
a day off from school or work.
For others it is
just another,
but for a large population that lives very near here
this day is
their day to be recognized.
There will be
powwows, gatherings and celebrations filled with dancers, feathers, salmon and
dried meats.
For the most part,
most of us won’t even notice;
but for our
neighbors, it is a day for them to embrace their heritage and traditions and
try and teach us a little bit about their true ancestry.
So one this day,
I,
a non-native,
will celebrate their accomplishments and their peoples’ past.
We all should, and
should embrace what they have to offer us.
We should take a
proper look at history and remember it for what it is and what has happened.
We don’t have to be
proud of that past but we must recognize it not just on this day, but every
day.
Our Native American
Day
Over on the east coast
is
(Thursday, November 24), this year.
WHAT IS NATIONAL DAY
OF MOURNING?
An annual tradition
since 1970,
Day of Mourning is a solemn, spiritual and highly political day.
Many of us fast from sundown the day before
through the afternoon of that day
(and have a social
after Day of Mourning so that participants in DOM can break their fasts).
We are mourning our
ancestors and the genocide of our peoples and the theft of our lands. NDOM is a
day when we mourn, but we also feel our strength in political action.
Over
the years, participants in Day of Mourning have buried Plymouth Rock a number
of times. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Day_of_Mourning_(United_States_protest)
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