Thanksgiving: a Story of Laws Followed and Laws Changed

By: Steven Shedd

For every historical event, there is either a law broken, changed, or followed, and the story of the first Thanksgiving is the story of laws followed. I remember learning about the holiday in kindergarten. I was told that the first Thanksgiving commemorated the peaceful and friendly meetings of English settlers and the Wampanoag tribe for three days of feasting in 1621. However, for Native Americans such as myself, Thanksgiving is a reminder of the genocide of millions of Native people, the theft of native lands, and the relentless assault by Europeans on Native culture that quickly followed the feast and continues to this day.

History and the law are deeply connected; the laws of European powers and, eventually, the United States made Native oppression not only legal but righteous. European powers followed the “Doctrine of Discovery,” an international legal principle that held a discovering Christian nation has ultimate authority and dominion over any discovered non-Christian nation. This legal doctrine not only gave European powers the right to colonize but also made it a moral obligation. While the international community has moved away from the Doctrine of Discovery, the United States brought the doctrine into our case law when the country was in its infant years, and it has never been overturned. The doctrine provided the foundation for court cases and laws that have given the green light to the genocide of native peoples, the theft of native lands, and the destruction of native culture. “Kill the Indian, save the child” was not just a slogan – it was following the law.

Thanksgiving is also a story of laws that changed. Despite a legal system designed to strip them of rights, Native Americans continued to be resilient. In recent decades, Native Americans have secured victories that have recognized my right to vote, my right to raise my children and my rights to native lands and culture.

Native Americans and other minority cultures continue to struggle against a legal system that was designed against them. On issues such as environmental justice, civil rights, and many more, Native Americans and many minority communities continue to face an uphill battle against laws being followed.

That is why whenever Thanksgiving comes around, as an attorney, an advocate, and a Citizen of the Muscogee Creek Nation, I stop and ask myself, “What laws should be followed, and what laws should be changed?” I invite you to do the same.

Mvto. (Thank You)