Ashley Escobar and Kyra Peek
Editor-in-Chief and Staff Reporter/Photographer
As families prepare for Thanksgiving, Amarillo College students reflect on the holiday’s traditions, its lesser-known history and the ways it continues to evolve across generations.
Bentlee Phipps, a graphic design and print media major said his family always had a special dinner. He said Thanksgiving is one of the only times besides Christmas where they all get together with some good food.
“I think it’s a nostalgic holiday,” Phipps said. “However, I do think the actual roots and historical background of the day should be taught a little better in schools.”
The formation of Thanksgiving as an official, United States’ holiday, did not begin until November 1863 during the Civil War. President Abraham Lincoln officially established the holiday as a way to improve relations between northern and southern states as well as the U.S. and tribal nations.
However, just a year prior, a mass execution took place of Dakota tribal members. Corrupt federal agents kept the Dakota-Sioux tribes from receiving food and provisions. Finally at the brink of death from starvation, members of the tribe fought back, resulting in the Dakota War of 1862.
In the end, President Lincoln ordered 38 tribal members to die from hanging and he felt that Thanksgiving offered an opportunity to bridge the hard feelings amongst native peoples and the federal government. From its origins as a harvest feast in 1621 to today’s modern-day gatherings, the holiday has evolved in many ways, yet it commonly remains as a time to reflect on what one is thankful for.
“I don’t think anything should change about Thanksgiving,” Adrian Ibarra, a graphic design and print media major, said. “Maybe people should have a more complete understanding of the history behind it but I think we are such a long time away from the 1600s that we celebrate in today’s day and age. It’s an innocent holiday where people get together with their loved ones and reflect on things to be thankful for.”
Some of the earliest surviving documents referencing what was included in the original feast was freshly killed deer, assorted wildfowl, a bounty of cod and bass, and flint, a native variety of corn harvested by the Native Americans, which was eaten as corn bread and porridge. It is a change from the traditional turkey, mashed potatoes and rolls that is commonly seen on peoples dinner tables nowadays.
“I am just tired of the same food over and over again,” Jonna Garcia, a criminal justice major said. “Thanksgiving should be more creative than just turkey, ham and stuffing over and over again every year.”
On the other hand, Queshon Hancock, graphic design and print media major said that even though he and his family do not celebrate the holiday, they do take the opportunity to take a free day to make meals they do not normally make. He said most of those meals consist of food from other cultures.
“I do not celebrate the holiday,” Hancock said. “I believe what the holiday was built off was very much misleading and despicable. Me and my family don’t feel comfortable celebrating a holiday like that.”
Tristan Salazar, horticulture major said he hopes that a better recognition of the holiday’s roots would better benefit those celebrating it.
“If there were one thing I could change, it would be the national whitewashing of the holiday,” Salazar said. “Most tribes celebrate by mourning and paying respects to the lost native tribes due to the settlers’ actions. We cannot take back our actions, but we can give respect and a place for native voices to be heard and taken seriously.”
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