Ways to Relearn Thanksgiving and to Honor Native Peoples 

2. Learn about Land Acknowledgement, Traditional Lands, and Treaties.

If you’re unsure about the Indigenous Peoples' land you are living on, you can search your location using Native Land. The Native Governance Center shares this handy Guide to Indigenous Land Acknowledgement. 

Other resources include Tribal Nations Maps, a source of hard copy maps that identify the traditional lands of Tribes in North and South America and the Caribbean, and the Smithsonian’s digital archive of treaties made between the United States and Indigenous Tribes.

3. Support Indigenous-led Nonprofits.

Support Native organizations in your area who are working hard to improve the health, well-being, livelihoods and to uphold the rights of Native Americans across Indian country. 

Cultural Survival works on this issue nationally and internationally. We also invite you to support Indigenous-led organizations and Tribes local to your community. In Cambridge, MA, where we are headquartered on Massachusett land, we partner with Native American Indian Center of Boston and United American Indians of New England, and support Eastern Woodland Rematriation. Also show your support for the Wôpanâak Language Reclamation Project, Native Land Conservancy, Wampanoag Trading Post and Gallery, The Massachusett Tribe at Ponkapoag, Native American LifeLines of Boston, Massachusetts Center for Native American Awareness, Nolumbeka Project, Ohketeau Cultural Center, and No Loose Braids. 

More suggestions here.

 

4. Listen to Indigenous Voices.

Landback - A Conversation with Demetrius Johnson Demetrius Johnson (Diné) is a #LandBack Organizer at Rapid City, South Dakota-based nonprofit NDN Collective. Originally from Tółaní, Ganado, Arizona, Johnson began community organizing shortly after being elected President of Kiva Club around the disastrous Gold King Mine spill that affected his people in 2015. Cultural Survival’s Indigenous Rights Radio Coordinator, Shaldon Ferris (Khoisan), spoke with Johnson about his work on NDN Collective’s #LandBack Campaign. The Importance of Deskaheh in the International Indigenous Movement On July 14, 1923, the Hereditary Chief of the Haudenosaunee Confederacy, Deskaheh Levi General (Cayuga), traveled to Geneva, Switzerland, to speak before the League of Nations. He sought to obtain international recognition of the Haudenosaunee Confederacy (historically known as the Six Nations of the Iroquois Confederacy, composed of the Mohawk, Oneida, Onondaga, Cayuga, Seneca, and Tuscarora Nations) as a sovereign Indigenous Nation governed by a hereditary council of chiefs.

5. Decolonize Your Dinner With Your Local Indigenous Chefs and Restaurants.

• This Rhode Island Chef Is Preserving Indigenous Seafood Traditions
• Native foods educator Valerie Segrest on marking Thanksgiving with respect
• Her Tribe Fed the Pilgrims. Here’s What She Wants You to Know About Indigenous Food 
• How to Decolonize Your Thanksgiving Dinner 
• This Thanksgiving, Make These Native Recipes From Indigenous Chefs
   

6. Hire Indigenous Performers and Educators for Your Next Event.

Hire Native performers, keynote speakers, and educators for an event!

• Native Pride Productions- International Native Dance Company
• Wampanoag Nation Singers and Dancers 
• Annowan Weeden (Mashpee Wampanoag/Pequot/Narragansett)
• Eric Hernandez (Lumbee)
• Sherente Harris (Narragansett)

7. Celebrate Native Creators.

Support Native Authors, Filmmakers, Musicians, Poets, and Artists!

• An Indigenously Inspired Curation For You And Your Bookshelf
• 25 Indigenous-Led Podcasts to Explore This Native American Heritage Month
• Native Cinema Showcase Highlights Indigenous Films From the Western Hemisphere and Arctic
• 40 Best Native American Authors to Read in 2024
• 11 Books by Native American Authors to Add to Your Reading List
• 10 Children's Books by Native Writers 
• Must Read Books by Indigenous Authors
• 20 Best Books by Native American Authors to Add to Your Bookshelf
• Becoming Earth: Experimental Theology by Robin Wall Kimmerer (Potawatomi) 
   

8. Buy Native This Holiday Season. #ShopIndigenous

If you want to support Indigenous businesses but are unsure of the line between cultural appropriation and appreciation, check out Cultural Survival’s resource list. Check out our Cultural Survival Bazaar Artist Directory.  For a wide array of services and goods, check out NativeWeb's database of Native-owned businesses. 

• 35 Indigenous and Native-Owned Clothing Brands to Shop Now and Always
• More Native Businesses to Support
• 4Kinship

9. Attend an Event.

• 55^th Annual National Day of Mourning 
  November 28, 2024, 12:00 PM ET, Coles Hill, Plymouth, MA.
  Live stream here.
   
• Annual Alcatraz Thanksgiving Sunrise Gathering
  November 28, 2024, 5:30 am – 8:00 am MST
  Learn more.
   
• Wampum: Stories from the Shells of Native America
  December 3, 2024 7:00 pm
  Learn more.

10. Share Positive Representations of Native People.

Illuminative and Project 562 showcase contemporary Native America with grace, beauty, and style. 
Check out Reservation Dogs on Hulu,  Rutherford Falls on Peacock, Dark Winds on AMC, Mohawk Girls on Peacock, and more.

11. End Racist Native Mascots in Sports.