Today is a National Day of Mourning

Everyone around me is celebrating Thanksgiving.

This morning my love and I are dreaming of what our Wild & Unruly homestead would look like, and what we can do to help heal this land. We have deep gratitude for for the chosen and blood family in our lives, our ability to travel (explore, see phish) and move through society with ease. But baking a turkey, and celebrating pilgrims i isn’t on our agenda.

Today, I will not celebrate the mass genocide of the indigenous peoples of the land on which I reside. I will not celebrate with dominance and gluttony. Today is a National Day of Mourning. Today I fast until the sun sets in honor of all indigenous peoples who have been victim of colonization and recognize and their struggle to survive today. I’ve lived many places in the United States and today I honor my land ancestors: the Mohawk on whose land I was raised, the Wampanoags, whose land my direct ancestors stole and on which I lived for a significant portion of my early adult life, the Choctaw, Natchez, the Apache, the Ohlone, the Lenni-Lanape, the Abenaki, and currently the land of the Mohican people.

Today, like last year, I am choosing not to shop, but to donate. This year I am making a donation to the Native American Rights Fund. Lastly, if you find yourself offended or angry reading this post, ask yourself why?