How a rejected Thanksgiving speech forged an Indigenous holiday tradition

Indigenous leader Mahtowin Monro speaks about how the National Day of Mourning offers a corrective to settler myths in the US. “I really liked the idea that there were Native people in New England — some of whom had been told growing up that they were extinct — that were there speaking about their history and what was going on with them now.” It was at the ceremony that she met the late Indigenous leader Wamsutta Frank James, who would eventually be the grandfather to her twin children. “What has happened cannot be changed, but today we must work towards a more humane America, a more Indian America, where men and nature once again are important.” Rejected from the anniversary event, Frank instead organised a protest on Cole’s Hill, overlooking Plymouth Bay — a tradition Monro and her daughter Kisha James carry on to this day. I think that’s why he felt strongly — well before 1970 — that it was important for Indigenous people in the region to be united and to work together to assert themselves as Indigenous people and to demand respect from the white people. One of the things that we do is we do work on Indigenous Peoples’ Day campaigns — that is, campaigns to abolish Columbus Day and celebrate Indigenous Peoples’ Day instead.