Before You Do THAT Lesson

Supporting educators in their efforts to
create more equitable learning experiences

 
 

THANKSGIVING

Why Reconsider this Topic?

● Thanksgiving is a lesson taught as a holiday and as an American cultural celebration. It’s most often considered a time when families get together to share food and togetherness. Lessons typically look at the Mayflower, Pilgrims, cooperation between Pilgrims and Native Americans, and religious freedom.

● One of the challenges is that many Native American families/communities consider it a day of mourning. Ignoring this valid perspective is a disservice for students whether or not they are part of these communities.

● Another reason to reconsider because of historical inaccuracies. The reasons for coming to the new world, the clothes they wore, Puritans vs. Pilgrims, and more have been very inaccurate in many traditional lessons.

● There is also a reason to look at these lessons because of the focus on abundance, particularly of food. For many students/families, food is a constant struggle. Even when we talk about other reasons to be thankful, food is often a big part of what we say we are celebrating.

Columbus Day

Why Reconsider this Topic?

  • October 12 is known as Columbus Day. Discussions often include Columbus as the explorer who discovered North America. In addition to the indigenous peoples who were already living on the continent, it is now believed Vikings arrived before Columbus.

  • Christopher Columbus didn’t explore North America. He started his voyages in 1492, but landed in the Caribbean Islands. He explored the coasts of Central and South America, but didn’t get to North America.

  • Columbus did not set out to prove that the Earth is round. The shape of  Earth was discovered hundreds of years earlier by Pythagoras and confirmed by Aristotle and Euclid in the 6th century (1,300 years before Columbus set sail) when they confirmed the Earth was indeed a sphere.

  • Christopher Columbus was known to commit atrocities toward the West Indies people and laid the groundwork for slavery in North America.

Indigenous Peoples’ Day recognizes that Native people are the first inhabitants of the Americas, including the lands that later became the United States of America. (Smithsonian Magazine, October 12, 2020)