Thanksgiving is an American holiday that began not long after the Pilgrims first arrived at Plymouth Rock.
Their first winter had been devastating. By the beginning of the following fall they had lost nearly half of the original colonists.
Those remaining decided to celebrate their survival with a feast. This celebration included American Indians who had helped the Pilgrims survive their first year. Some believe that if it were not for these Indians, the Pilgrims wouldn't have survived the rough terrain and the harsh climate of this new land.
For three days the Indians feasted with the Pilgrims, and it was a special time of friendship between two very different groups of people. On account of this, Thanksgiving has oftentimes been seen as the blending of two cultures.
Unfortunately there is a little more of this story yet to be told.
I would love to tell you that this friendship lasted a long time, but that wasn't the way history would be written. When more people from England landed on American shores, the Indians' help was no longer needed nor was it much appreciated. The English settlers would soon drive them off their land, the land that was rightfully theirs in the first place, and make it clear that the Indians either assimilated to their way of life or be killed.
This is the unpleasant truth about this holiday we call Thanksgiving.
We celebrate it as a nation with our parades and our animated specials that concentrate primarily on the famous dinner the Pilgrims had with the Indians - or to be more politically correct, the Native Americans. "Native" for they were here a long time before the Pilgrims ever landed at Plymouth Rock.
As Americans, most of us don't allow ourselves to concentrate on what can honestly be seen as betrayal. Thanksgiving to the average white American man is all about getting stuffed on turkey and cranberry sauce, then sitting in front of the television watching football, oblivious to what this holiday really means, not only to us, but to those native to this American soil.
My prayer for every one of us this Thanksgiving is to be a little more grateful for what we have and not disappointed about what we don't.
There is not a day that goes by when I don't hear someone tear down the president because of the foolish things he may or may not do. Instead, as Americans, we need to be grateful to live in a country where we can in fact make fun of the president and not be prosecuted for doing so.
We need to be grateful for our professors, though they may be critical, for we wouldn't know half of the things we do if it weren't for them. We need to be grateful for our parents, though they may embarrass us. After all, we wouldn't even be here if not for them.
We need to be grateful for our friends, even if they do get on our nerves and remember if it weren't for them we'd be alone.
And we even need to be grateful for our enemies; they make life all that more interesting.
Finally, we need to keep in mind that the lives we live and take for granted was made in blood, that of the soldiers whose blood is shed so that we may keep our freedom.
As well as that of the Native American, whose blood was shed so that we might live on the land on which he once so proudly stood - the land we have come to know as the United States of America.
Joshua Faris is a senior journalism and creative writing major and writes 'Living the College Life' for the Daily News. His views do not necessarily agree with those of the newspaper.
Write to Joshua at jsfaris@bsu.edu.
Read More
Three Air Jam teams take home the win
October 12, 2012Nineteen teams shimmied, shook and flipped for a sold out John R. Emens Auditorium on Thursday night during the 25th annual Air Jam.
Bill Clinton Speaks at North Central High School
October 12, 2012Former President's Speech Could Have Effect on State Senate Race
