How to decolonize your Thanksgiving dinner in observance of National day of Mourning

Thanksgiving is almost upon us, a time when many Americans gather together to eat turkey and talk about what they’re most thankful for. Growing up in the United States, almost everyone can recall the “First Thanksgiving” story they were told in elementary school: how the local Wampanoag Native Americans sat down with the pilgrims of Plymouth Colony in 1621, in what is now present-day Massachusetts, for a celebratory feast.

However, this story is far from the truth - which is why many people opt out of celebrating the controversial holiday.

For many Indigenous communities throughout the US, Thanksgiving remains a national day of mourning -