Thanksgiving: A Native American View | | AlterNet

Thanksgiving: A Native American View | | AlterNet:

"By 1623, Mather the elder, a Pilgrim leader, was giving thanks to his God for destroying the heathen savages to make way 'for a better growth,' meaning his people. In stories told by the Dakota people, an evil person always keeps his or her heart in a secret place separate from the body. The hero must find that secret place and destroy the heart in order to stop the evil. I see, in the 'First Thanksgiving' story, a hidden Pilgrim heart. The story of that heart is the real tale that needs to be told. What did it hold? Bigotry, hatred, greed, self-righteousness? We have seen the evil that it caused in the 350 years since. Genocide, environmental devastation, poverty, world wars, racism. Where is the hero who will destroy that heart of evil?"