Thanks to Christopher

I can always remember celebrating Thanksgiving during elementary school because we would all bring in snacks and do arts and crafts. Teachers taught us the story about how the pilgrims needed help when they first came over from England so the Native Americans taught them how to harvest corn and because of this they all celebrated together with a big feast. Now many years later, I know that this is not the truth. I feel that telling children the truth about how cruel the pilgrims were to the Native American population is not the best route to go, but introducing them in a positive light is the best approach for a teacher. The article "I is for Indian" introduces many ways for a teacher to approach the subject of teaching about the Native Americans. The article "What Not to Teach" does a very good job at addressing the idea that Native Americans have a culture that is still around today and that many of the stereotypes of Native Americans are not true. Teaching students about the culture of them and not necessarily the relationship between the pilgrims and the Native Americans is a better idea. I also feel that there should be a redefinition of Thanksgiving Day. It should still be a time of celebration for people to come together and learn from each other but it should not be about the Pilgrims and Native Americans.

 Similarly I also feel that the same should be done for Columbus Day. The truth should be taught to students that Christopher Columbus did not discover American and that the Native Americans inhabited America long before he came. The massacres that occurred by Columbus and his men should be taught to students. This topic is touchy because I don’t feel that violence is an okay subject to teach to elementary level students, but they should still know about the culture of the Native Americans. I don’t feel that celebrating Columbus Day is okay because it represents so many horrors.