Busting the Thanksgiving Myth: Native Sovereignty & the Red Road
11/20/22 • 28 min
Pilgrims, Indians, the myth of the grateful colonized person — it’s been at the core of a persistent but false Thanksgiving narrative that has distorted the true relationship between Indigenous Peoples and white colonizers dating back to Plymouth Rock. As many of us observe Thanksgiving and Indigenous Peoples’ Day, the new federal holiday, Judith LeBlanc, executive director of the Native Organizers Alliance, reminds us that “people are questioning.” In the midst of a national reckoning with white supremacy and colonial history, Indigenous people are demanding a new relationship with DC — honoring the traditional, legal, and moral rights of Native nations. In 2021, a group of Native organizers invited Laura to travel with a 25-foot totem pole from the Lummi Nation in Washington State to Washington D.C. stopping for ceremonies in communities under threat and gathering messages for the Biden-Harris administration. In DC they held a historic meeting with Interior Secretary Deb Haaland. In this episode, we hear what happened in that meeting, how Native movements are changing, among other myths, the Thanksgiving story, and where a Red Road to the future might lead us — if we followed it. November is National American Indian Heritage Month.
“. . . When Native peoples are taking a stand, whether it’s no DAPL at Standing Rock or the Keystone XL Pipeline . . . it’s not just a Native American issue. We’re defending the water and the land for tens of millions of Americans.” - Crystal Echo Hawk
“Laws and policies were written without considering Indigenous communities’ challenges or their strengths . . . Today and every day, we break barriers to those institutions and systems that were designed to keep us out.” - Secretary of the Interior, Deb Haaland
“We're hoping this Thanksgiving, people take a look at what has happened in this country when it comes to reckoning with systemic racism . . . We bring the idea that we're all in relationship.” - Judith LeBlanc
Guests:
Crystal Echo Hawk: IllumiNative, Founder & CEO
Judith LeBlanc: Director, Native Organizers Alliance
Mari Margil: Executive Director, Center for Democratic and Environmental Rights
Anahkwet/Guy Reiter: Executive Director, Menīkānaehkem Community Rebuilders
Faith Spotted Eagle: Ihanktonwon Dakota Elder & Brave Heart Society Kunsi Member
The show is made possible by listeners like you. Become a member today at https://Patreon.com/theLFShow Members Receive early access to the full uncut conversation and more.
Laura Flanders and Friends Crew: Laura Flanders, along with Sabrina Artel, Jeremiah Cothren, Veronica Delgado, Janet Hernandez, Jeannie Hopper, Gina Kim, Sarah Miller, Nat Needham, David Neuman, and Rory O’Conner.
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ACCESSIBILITY - The broadcast edition of this episode is available with closed captioned by clicking here for our YouTube Channel
Pilgrims, Indians, the myth of the grateful colonized person — it’s been at the core of a persistent but false Thanksgiving narrative that has distorted the true relationship between Indigenous Peoples and white colonizers dating back to Plymouth Rock. As many of us observe Thanksgiving and Indigenous Peoples’ Day, the new federal holiday, Judith LeBlanc, executive director of the Native Organizers Alliance, reminds us that “people are questioning.” In the midst of a national reckoning with white supremacy and colonial history, Indigenous people are demanding a new relationship with DC — honoring the traditional, legal, and moral rights of Native nations. In 2021, a group of Native organizers invited Laura to travel with a 25-foot totem pole from the Lummi Nation in Washington State to Washington D.C. stopping for ceremonies in communities under threat and gathering messages for the Biden-Harris administration. In DC they held a historic meeting with Interior Secretary Deb Haaland. In this episode, we hear what happened in that meeting, how Native movements are changing, among other myths, the Thanksgiving story, and where a Red Road to the future might lead us — if we followed it. November is National American Indian Heritage Month.
“. . . When Native peoples are taking a stand, whether it’s no DAPL at Standing Rock or the Keystone XL Pipeline . . . it’s not just a Native American issue. We’re defending the water and the land for tens of millions of Americans.” - Crystal Echo Hawk
“Laws and policies were written without considering Indigenous communities’ challenges or their strengths . . . Today and every day, we break barriers to those institutions and systems that were designed to keep us out.” - Secretary of the Interior, Deb Haaland
“We're hoping this Thanksgiving, people take a look at what has happened in this country when it comes to reckoning with systemic racism . . . We bring the idea that we're all in relationship.” - Judith LeBlanc
Guests:
Crystal Echo Hawk: IllumiNative, Founder & CEO
Judith LeBlanc: Director, Native Organizers Alliance
Mari Margil: Executive Director, Center for Democratic and Environmental Rights
Anahkwet/Guy Reiter: Executive Director, Menīkānaehkem Community Rebuilders
Faith Spotted Eagle: Ihanktonwon Dakota Elder & Brave Heart Society Kunsi Member
The show is made possible by listeners like you. Become a member today at https://Patreon.com/theLFShow Members Receive early access to the full uncut conversation and more.
Laura Flanders and Friends Crew: Laura Flanders, along with Sabrina Artel, Jeremiah Cothren, Veronica Delgado, Janet Hernandez, Jeannie Hopper, Gina Kim, Sarah Miller, Nat Needham, David Neuman, and Rory O’Conner.
FOLLOW Laura Flanders and Friends
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ACCESSIBILITY - The broadcast edition of this episode is available with closed captioned by clicking here for our YouTube Channel
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BIPOC Media Covered the Elections Differently
(full episode notes are at https://Patreon.com/theLFShow) When it came to the midterms, mainstream white pundits got a lot wrong that local, Black, Brown and BIPOC media got right, and they're still missing many important stories. That's the message from this roundtable of journalists we call Meet the BIPOC Press, a monthly feature of the Laura Flanders Show. What do the money media’s hits and misses tell us about what journalists need to be doing better — or differently — in the weeks and months ahead? For this conversation, Laura is joined by S. Mitra Kalita, the publisher of Epicenter-NYC and co-founder of URL Media, a network of Black and Brown community news outlets that partners with the Laura Flanders Show every month; Habib Rahman, the cofounder of TBN24, the first Bangladeshi 24/7 live television channel in the US, and Stephanie Williams, the executive editor of the IE Voice and Black Voice News serving Southern California. How did their outlets meet the needs of their constituents and voters? Some of the answers are pretty surprising. Music spotlight features “Only One Can Win” by i Poet Laureate from Sintax the Terrific’s album ‘Year One’ rapping on past midterm elections; and at the top of the show, thanks to Sonicquinn at FreeSound.org for the buzzing bees.
"Mainstream media is covering misinformation and they're covering the polls. They're not really covering abortion, climate change, your garbage pickup, your kid's PTA.” - S. Mitra Kalita
“We have a small network, TBN24. Compared to MSNBC or CNN or Fox we are minute, but they don't understand the power of local journalism, local stations and the influence that we have on the local people.” - Habib Rahman
“Looking within our communities we should be reading the pulse of what's happening there, and if it's contrary to the polls, we should use our voices and speak up and say, that's not what we're seeing in my community, regardless of what the polls say.” - Stephanie Williams
Guests:
S. Mitra Kalita: Co-Founder, URL Media; CEO & Publisher, Epicenter-NYC
Habib Rahman: Co-Founder, TBN24, Bangladeshi Global Digital TV
Stephanie Williams: Executive Editor, IE Voice & Black Voice News
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Laura Flanders and Friends Crew: Laura Flanders, along with Sabrina Artel, Jeremiah Cothren, Veronica Delgado, Janet Hernandez, Jeannie Hopper, Gina Kim, Sarah Miller, Nat Needham, David Neuman, and Rory O’Conner.
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