Thanksgiving is also a time to remember the deprivations and atrocities that occurred to Indians

This Thanksgiving week, Stephen L. Pevar reminds us that while we commemorate the Pilgrim’s feast in 1620 to thank Indians for their friendship, we also need to remember that the following three centuries were marked by increasingly punitive policies by governments towards them. He argues that while conditions for many tribes have improved in recent decades, conditions on most reservations are substandard and impoverished. He gives several ways that non-Indians can commemorate Thanksgiving in this light; by lobbying public schools and Congress, and donating to organizations that give economic assistance to Indians.