Historical Revisionism: from Thanksgiving to the National Day of Mourning

Simple item page
dc.contributor.advisorRoza, M.H.
dc.contributor.advisorVos, L.M. de
dc.contributor.authorHuisman, E.N.
dc.date.issued2022-07-01
dc.description.abstractThe holiday of Thanksgiving is very important to many Americans, but hurtful to many Native Americans, as the mythology of the holiday is highly one-sided. This study aims to provide a more inclusive history of Thanksgiving and to place its counter-tradition the National Day of Mourning in the context of other forms of Native American activism in the 1960s and 1970s. To do this, I did a close reading of academic texts and other sources about Thanksgiving, the National Day of Mourning, and other forms of Native American activism. I worked with historical revisionism, as this aims to provide a more balanced history in order to accomplish inclusivity. My analysis shows that the holiday and myth of Thanksgiving misrepresented and left out the experiences of the Wampanoag and instead celebrates their losses of lands, genocide, and oppression. The National Day of Mourning is a counter-tradition of the celebration of Thanksgiving that is both connected to other forms of Native American activism (AIM) and an independent form of protest. The National Day of Mourning continues to be of importance to Indigenous Peoples both nationally and internationally, as it still aims to educate non-Native people, honor the ancestors, and protest the ongoing racism towards Native Americans. I conclude that the celebration of Thanksgiving should be revised, so that the Wampanoag are accurately acknowledged. It is important to celebrate a more inclusive version of Thanksgiving, so that the National Day of Mourning will not be necessary anymore in the future.en_US
dc.identifier.urihttps://theses.ubn.ru.nl/handle/123456789/13124
dc.language.isoenen_US
dc.thesis.facultyFaculteit der Letterenen_US
dc.thesis.specialisationAmerikanistieken_US
dc.thesis.studyprogrammeBachelor Engelse taal en cultuuren_US
dc.thesis.typeBacheloren_US
dc.titleHistorical Revisionism: from Thanksgiving to the National Day of Mourningen_US
Files
Original bundle
Now showing 1 - 1 of 1
Thumbnail Image
Name:
Huisman, E.N. 1041694.pdf
Size:
275.52 KB
Format:
Adobe Portable Document Format
Download
Collections
Faculteit der Letteren