Thanksgiving Ambivalence and a History Lesson on the Native Nations Whose Ancestral Lands I Live On Today

Ahh, Thanksgiving. It's a holiday that's sat uncomfortably with me for the past few years, especially as I've learned more about colonialism and the mistreatment and murder of Native people as generations of white people took their land and made it "ours." (Part of that was the research for the chapter on We'wha in my upcoming book, NO WAY, THEY WERE GAY? Hidden Lives and Secret Loves.)

So for a long time I've tried to shift my focus onto the gratitude part of the holiday.

But this year, I was inspired by my friends April and Lori to do a little more. I've lived in Los Angeles since 1991 (twenty-nine years now!) but in all that time, I've never really dug into the history of who lived here before. Before the white people. Before the Spanish.

 It took me two Google searches to find a website created by the Gabrielino-Tongva Nation.

The first search took me to a website on the history of my neighborhood that had this line about the Gabrielina-Tongva people who lived here, "Eventually, they shared the land and sea—the good duck hunting and steel-head trout fishing—with the Spanish explorers and, in time, with the first Angelenos.” which sounds like a page out of the happy Pilgrims holding hands with Native people singing campfire songs "history" I learned in school. 

Clearly I needed to find a website written by members of the Gabrielino-Tongva Nation. I found it here: https://gabrielinotribe.org/history/

That's where I learned that:

The Gabrielino-Tongva Nation has been indigenous to the Los Angeles Basin for 7,000 years. This history is well-documented through 2,800 archaeological sites, in State historical records and federal archives, and Catholic church records at San Gabriel Mission and San Fernando Mission.

Their struggle for official recognition:

In 1994, the State of California recognized the Tongva in Assembly Joint Resolution 96, chaptered by the California Secretary of State as Resolution chapter 146, Statutes of 1994. The Joint Resolution states that the State of California “recognizes the Gabrielino-Tongva Nation as the aboriginal tribe of the Los Angeles Basin and takes great pride in recognizing the Indian inhabitance of the Los Angeles Basin and the continued existence of the Indian community”.

And that they still do not have federal recognition:

The Gabrielino-Tongva are one of two state-recognized tribes and the best-documented tribe in the State without federal recognition.

I recognize this is a small step, but it feels important to acknowledge that I live on the ancestral lands of the Gabrielino-Tongva Nation.

With the help of my friend Lori, I found out about this very cool website that tracks - worldwide - the ancestral location of Native nations. It's at https://native-land.ca/

They call out the Chumash, Tongva, and Kizh nations as being native to where I live... 

Clearly, I have more homework to do!

I'd like to encourage you to do the two-step process for where you live. Find some history on your neighborhood. And then dig a little deeper, and find that history written by the Native people descended from those who lived where you live, hundreds -- if not thousands -- of years ago.

And then check our your neighborhood on native-land.ca, with links to the websites of the Native nations cited.

The light in me recognizes and acknowledges the light in you,
Lee

What I'm Thinking About This Thanksgiving

Thanks to Lawrence O'Donnell for this commentary.

My Thanksgiving Resolution

I know it's early in the season for resolutions, but this one seems particularly appropriate on this holiday when we celebrate being in the USA -- a land we took from the native people who lived here before us.

Watch this video:



It's inspired me:

I'm going to stop using the term "illegal alien" and start using "undocumented immigrant" instead.

"Undocumented Immigrant" highlights our shared humanity. And really, unless you're a Native American, you (like me) are an immigrant to this country.

And I doubt all our ancestor's "documents" meant that much to the native people who watched Columbus arrive, or to the tribes betrayed by President Andrew Jackson and forced to march in the Trail of Tears West of the Mississippi river. (80,000 marched. 10,000 died.) And then we put that guy on the twenty dollar bill.

The history of how this country came to be is fraught with injustice and undocumented immigration. I think it's responsible to acknowledge that fact, and also to acknowledge how thankful I am to live in this country, and to be an American. Recognizing my privilege, I want to be an ally and stand up for those who aren't lucky enough to have the correct documents.

Namaste,
Lee

p.s. - My thanks to Chris for sharing this video with me, and for the idea of changing the language we use to speak of people like Jose Antonio Vargas.

Giving Thanks

There's this old prayer in the Jewish tradition, called the She-he-chi-ah-nu.

It's about being grateful. Taking a moment to acknowledge where you are in your life. To recognize the blessings you have, and not take them for granted.

My Maternal Grandmother used to say it every time she ate the first plum of the season.



I mean, you can walk by a pile of rocks. Or you can see the art in it, like the artist who stacked these at the beach the morning before I went walking there. I had to stop and look at it. Rocks were everywhere on the ground, but these rocks had a purpose. They made me stop and pay attention to the beauty all around me.

This Thanksgiving, amid all the feasting, and the feelings of guilt about having, uh... stolen this country from the Native Americans, and the shopping frenzy Corporate America and our Government seem to be hoping we all go on starting Friday morning, take a moment.

Think about some of the things that make you happy in your life. The people who make your days brighter. The music that makes you want to get up and dance. The art - or artful pile of rocks - that you find where you least expect it. The plums that get baked into pie.

And add a sense of gratitude to the holiday. And then share that good, happy, grateful thought with someone else. Someone you care about.

And maybe gratitude can be the emotion that travels the world over the next few days.

It would make for a nice change of pace.

I'll get us started: I'm grateful for my husband and daughter. And as soon as I finish writing this, I'm going to go tell them.

And I'm also grateful to you - for being part of this enormous virtual community that cares about empowering Gay Teens (and everyone else, too!)

Now it's your turn. What are you grateful for? Share that part of you with people you care about.

Happy Holiday, and Namaste,
Lee