Native People and Allies Hold National Day of Mourning

By Nadrat Siddique

Plymouth, MA
November 23, 2017

In the U.S., there is Holocaust Remembrance Day, Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day, and 9-11 Remembrance Day. There is no day to remember the indigenous people who lost their lives in the colonization of North America. Nor is there a day to remember the victims of the Ma’afa. And—it is debatable if such a day would even be appropriate, given the abject lack of U.S. government remorse or repentance for these duel genocides, and the fact that war against Native people and Black people continue. In the interim, however, Native people decided to establish the National Day of Mourning so that their dead might not be forgotten as the White Supremacist power structure would wish.

Background

Indigenous peoples of North America have long held feasts to give thanks to the Creator. However, they do not accept the Thanksgiving myth as it is written by Europeans. In part, this is due to the fact that a massacre of native people regularly followed the numerous colonist-initiated thanksgiving celebrations held in the area of the United States now called New England.

Among the more well-known of these was the “Thanksgiving” which followed the massacre of Wampanoag (Native American) people and the butchering of their leader Metacomet. Metacomet’s head was hung from the village square by the colonists. Plymouth Colony then called for a day of thanksgiving for their “victory” over the Native people. Horrifyingly, this was the same Metacomet whose father, Massasoit, had just a generation earlier hosted the White settlers who landed near Plymouth Rock, saving them from famine. And—the massacre of the Wampanoag was only one of many such by Whites of the indigenous people.

In 1970, a small group of Native people, calling themselves United American Indians of New England, decided to establish the National Day of Mourning (NDOM). NDOM started out as a small gathering of about 20 people. Today, hundreds of people of every age, race, and walk of life, gather in the annual observance. They meet on Coles’ Hill, across from Plymouth Rock (Plymouth, MA), the putative location of the Pilgrims’ landing. I have attended the gathering with some regularity for years, as I believe it is the only place to be on a day associated with such terrible tragedy and loss of life.

At the NDOM gathering, there were indigenous people from nations as diverse as Mayan, Penobscot, Lakota, Dakota, Taino, Pequot, Haudenosanee, and others. There were Arabs, Pakistanis, Indians, Latinos, Africans, Caribbeans, and Caucasians. There were many Black people, including some from the Black Lives Matter (BLM) movement. Their presence brought to mind the long-standing historical alliance between Blacks and Indians in their parallel struggles against slavery and outright extermination. Indians would often hide a runaway slave; African slaves would help Indians in a variety of ways; and Black and Indian intermarriage was quite common.

I was there to represent Jamaat al-Muslimeen and to offer solidarity to the indigenous people from the Pakistani community (I wore a “Free Dr. Aafia Siddiqui” teeshirt). Other Muslims of note at the gathering were DC-based activist Sr. Sumiyeh, who has long championed indigenous rights and was part of a Muslim solidarity delegation to Standing Rock on “Columbus Day” 2016, at the height of the fight against the Dakota Access Pipeline; Br. Reza, who was part of the same delegation; and Boston-based activist/ writer Sr. Karina Friedman, a regular contributor to New Trend.

A large number of politically-conscious Caucasians, including many labor union members, participated. The socialist Solidarity Center organized buses to transport supporters to the event from New York and Boston. To their credit, Caucasians took a back seat at the event, remaining in a support role. The spirit of solidarity and internationalism was inspiring.

Perhaps the best part of the NDOM is that only Native speakers appear on the dais. No White experts on indigenous affairs, self-appointed spokespeople, patriarchs, or other non-native solidarity speakers are permitted to speak. As I observed the dynamic gathering of Native people and their allies on Coles’ Hill, it occurred to me that Muslims could do well to emulate this policy. It seems to be a part of our collective self-loathing/ inferiority complex that we perpetually wait--depending on our political leanings—for either the White Leftists or the sycophantic DHS-approved Muslim Uncle Toms to speak for us. In either case, the result is a dishonest, non-authentic representation of the Muslim cause.

The National Day of Mourning began with a sacred Native American prayer, the filming of which was prohibited by the organizers. Then began the speeches. Among the Native speakers were:

Moonanum James, co-chair of United American Indians of New England (UAINE). He introduced the program and welcomed the participants. James is one of the original founders of NDOM. In 1997, he along with 24 others was arrested for having the audacity to challenge the Thanksgiving myth in Plymouth. His small group of Native Americans and a few White supporters refused to back down, ultimately forcing the town to recognize the Native peoples’ right to march on “Thanksgiving Day,” and to place commemorative plaques and statues—proffering a realistic portrayal of the savagery of Whites toward Native people—throughout the town.

Mahtowin Munro, a Lakota woman, who, along with James co-chairs UAINE, spoke with power and eloquence. She drew parallels between world struggles against colonialism and imperialism, including those in Latin America, the Muslim world, and Africa. She pointed out that Native people were targeted by police at even higher rates than Blacks, and that violence against Native American women was rampant.

Sr. June Sapiel of the Penobscot Nation spoke. Her son, a water protector, was shot by the authorities at Standing Rock. As a result of the attack on him (along with other peaceful protestors at Standing Rock), he is permanently maimed, she said, fighting back tears. The Penobscots are involved in a struggle--similar to that at Standing Rock--to protect their water supplies from contamination by multinational corporations.

Medicine Man Juan Gonzalez, representing the Council of Maya Elders, delivered a statement describing the world scene with a deeply internationalist vision. With intense emotion, he also shared his own observations on the destruction of the Mother Earth.

Vanessa Inaru Metzli, a Taino Indian from Puerto Rico spoke. She explained that the Taino were the original people of Puerto Rico, and delved into the U.S. government’s racist handling of the aftermath of the recent hurricane there.

Elder Bert Waters, one of the original founders of the NDOM, read a statement from imprisoned Native American leader Leonard Peltier.

The tragedy of Leonard Peltier

Many placards at the NDOM draw attention to plight of Native American political prisoner Leonard Peltier. Peltier, a leader of the American Indian Movement and a 73-year old grandfather, has been in prison for 40 years for a crime he didn’t commit. He was a leader of the American Indian Movement in the 1970s. In the U.S., Native people who wish to follow their own culture are relegated to reservations which lack arable land, and where multinational corporations dump toxic wastes. There, antiquated (or non-existent) plumbing, dismal job prospects, alcoholism, high rates of infant mortality, suicide, and domestic violence prevail. Indian reservations are administered by the Bureau of Indian Affairs, a wing of the U.S. Department of the Interior. In the 1970s, the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation was administered by a man named Dick Wilson. Wilson ran the reservation like a feudal lord (rather like Hamid Karzai’s brother ran Kandahar). His “goon squad” was notorious for its heavy-handed tactics against opponents. After numerous deaths under suspicious circumstances, the American Indian Movement came to the reservation to protect the people. Although they were there to protect the interests of the community, and had been called in by that community, they were labeled as outsiders and later even called “terrorists” by the U.S. government. In the climate of fear created by Dick Wilson, two FBI agents came to the reservation and were involved in a shootout with AIM activists and others. In the shootout, the FBI agents were killed, along with an Indian man named Joseph Stuntz. Leonard Peltier was among those charged. Despite a mountain of exculpatory evidence, Leonard was eventually convicted and sentenced to two life terms. It was his case which originally drew me to the Native American struggle. He remains a symbol of U.S. injustice and indignities toward Native people, and an inspiration to many who attend NDOM.

March through Downtown Plymouth

The rally was followed by a spirited march, replete with Native chanting, drumming, chants of “Mini wiconi” (“Water is Life”); and slogans calling for the freedom for Leonard Peltier. The colorful march--from Cole’s Hill, through downtown Plymouth, and back--passed all the major tourist attractions including Plymouth Rock. It was in stark contrast with the tourist foot traffic about town. Interestingly, nearly all the tourists sucking in the Plymouth Rock/ First Thanksgiving myth offered at various points including at the Rock itself, were White, with a few Asians adding to their ranks. You can fool some people sometimes..

© 2017 By Nadrat Siddique

Thoughts on “Thanksgiving”

As readers may be aware, "Thanksgiving" as it’s celebrated today has little or nothing to do with its historical reality. For time immemorial, Native people held feasts to give thanks to the Creator for all they had. So, the claim that the first Thanksgiving occurred only after the colonists arrived, is a racist statement from the outset, writing off Native celebrations. It is akin to saying that 9-11 was the first terror event on U.S. soil—never mind the many massacres of Native people, and lynchings of Black people. As the link at the end of this piece illustrates, the precise date of the first Thanksgiving was not 1621, as is claimed. It is unknown. However, numerous colonist-initiated thanksgiving celebrations were held in the Northeastern U.S. (in the area now known as New England), usually following a massacre of native people.

Among the more well-known of these was the “Thanksgiving” which followed the massacre of Wampanoag people (Native American--or Red Indian, per the Indo-Pakistani misnomer--tribe) and the butchering of their leader Metacomet (known to the Whites as King Phillip), his head hung from the village square by the colonists. Plymouth Colony then called for a day of thanksgiving for their “victory” over the Native people. The perfidy of the incident is particularly horrifying when one considers that Metacomet's father, Massasoit, had only a generation earlier hosted the White settlers who landed near Plymouth Rock, saving them from famine.

As Muslims, we are often in the difficult position of having to respond to a greeting such as "Happy Thanksgiving." Some Muslims feel that it necessary to return the greeting out of concern for adaab (Islamic etiquette), or to be in compliance with the Qur'anic injunction to return a greeting with one better.

But words are powerful. They are essential in the colonizing of minds. And they can help perpetuate a myth, in this case, that of a warm fuzzy Thanksgiving, in which Native people and White settlers feasted and cavorted in friendship. But Islam teaches us to stand with the oppressed, against the oppressor. As aware Muslims we have the option to politely deflect the greeting, then briefly explain why we do not celebrate it. It is an opportunity to educate people, and bust some myths.

It's odd how sensitivities of some groups in society are paramount, while others are completely disregarded. Why, for example, don't people who embrace "Thanksgiving" consider how a Native person would feel on an occasion commemorating the massacre of his ancestors? Carrying this point further, why is there not a public furor at such a celebration? In my opinion, there should be.

I’m almost certain a furor would result, if, for instance, there were a festive holiday commemorating/coinciding with the deaths of Europeans (this would be nothing more far fetched than what occurs on Thanksgiving). On the other hand, the near coincidence of Eid ul-Fitr—determined by the moon, not an invention of individual Muslims—with September 11 was a cause for major brouhaha (not to intimate that all the victims of that sad event were Caucasian, or that suffering did not occur on that occasion). But Thanksgiving—despite the fact that its celebrations throughout U.S. colonial history were nearly always announced or correlated with a massacre of Native people—seems to raise no such concern. This is part of the dehumanizing of Red, Black, and Brown Peoples, that their graves may be trampled upon at will, their genocide mythologized into national celebrations. So, clearly the desensitization alluded to earlier has been effective across broad sectors of the society.

Finally, the crushing of public sensitivities to a targeted population (in this case Native people) is a crucial part of a propaganda war, which allows their genocide to be perpetuated, or at least not redressed. It is up to us to decide if we wish to participate.

With thanks to L.C. for this valuable link:

http://oyate.org/resources/shortthanks.html