It is ironic that we are about to celebrate a holiday that is all about giving thanks for an abundant harvest and eating a big feast, while so many Native Americans today are struggling with hunger and food insecurity.
The reality is that hunger in Indian Country is the direct result of centuries of discrimination against Native Americans from the moment Europeans first landed on American soil. Early settlers engaged in a deliberate policy of raiding and destroying native food stores and resources. Enforced resettlement on reservations pushed tribes off their native grounds and away from their traditional food sources. Native agricultural practices were erased, fishing and hunting rights were denied, the buffalo were wiped out.
The government replaced these resources with government rations, food commodity programs that focused on mere survival rather than nutrition or culturally appropriate foods; replaced traditional foods with foods familiar to white communities, and provided SNAP benefits that were not able to be redeemed anywhere on the reservations. The result was an increase in food insecurity, the rise in obesity, diabetes, and other nutrition-related illnesses, and the destruction of tribal food economies.
Today, Native American-led organizations are working to restore native agricultural practices, support native farmers, fishers, and ranchers, and promote sustainable agricultural businesses on the reservations. They are working to increase food security and food sovereignty among the tribes, so that the tribal leaders, not the federal government, are in charge of administering anti-hunger programs on their own lands. After all, they are in a better position than legislators in Washington to determine what their communities need, what foods are most appropriate, and the best methods of delivery.
As we work to support our Native American siblings’ efforts toward greater equity and empowerment, one immediate task we can take on is to debunk the myth of the ‘First Thanksgiving’. Perpetuating this myth only seeks to perpetuate stereotypes about Native Americans, distorts the real history beyond recognition, ignores the rich history and culture of the Wampanoag people who had thrived for thousands of years before white Europeans later known as Pilgrims came and stole their land, and serves to sweep under the rug the true history of genocide, forced relocations, broken promises, and ongoing discrimination.
(Learn the truth behind the myth here and here)
It is so important that we educate ourselves about the history, traditions, and rich variety of cultures of the 573 officially and not officially recognized Native American tribes. A Native organization, Illuminative (https://illuminatives.org/) teaches us about the reality, and the danger, of Native invisibility. Ignorance and stereotyping have a damaging effect on how Native peoples are treated by the courts, schools, and society. 80% of Americans know little or nothing about Native communities; 90% of our schools teach little or nothing about Native Americans past 1900. Native representation in pop culture lies somewhere between 0 and 0.4% and often consists of damaging stereotypes of Natives as drunk, impoverished, and victims of crime.
Invisibility creates implicit bias and leads to Native Americans being left out of key decisions in Congress. Decision-makers know nothing about Native Americans. Most federal judges know nothing and yet make important decisions on treaty rights and other important issues. It is imperative to shift the narrative, break the stereotypes, and make the invisible, visible. Minimally, public policies need to be written to include Native communities. More deeply, Native leaders need to be included at the table from the beginning, as policies are being debated, not after they are already written. We need to remember that Native Americans are still here, are resilient, are thriving, have capable leadership and have addressed their issues with innovation and creativity.
As Americans, we care about all our children, we want all people to be healthy and safe, and we want people to have access to heathy and nutritious food. We must live out these values by supporting the Native American communities in their fight for food security and sovereignty. We need to advocate for increased SNAP benefits in the next COVID relief bill and in the next Farm Bill. But more than that, we need to recognize the power and resiliency of the Native community and support those Native-led organizations (see below) that are supporting food sovereignty and promoting Native agriculture that enables the tribes to feed themselves.
Anti-hunger and Native food sovereignty organizations:
Native American Agriculture Fund
Inter-tribal Agriculture Council
MAZON: A Jewish Response to Hunger partnership with Native American food sovereignty organizations