Across the United States, November is synonymous with preparations for Thanksgiving. Classrooms and public areas are decorated with warm-, earthy-toned cutouts of turkeys; English settlers – the Pilgrims, as they are known – who made a new home in a country new to them; and “Indians” with colourful feather headdresses and vests made of construction paper.Families come together from all over the country for a feast. And some arguments.Recommended Stories list of 3 itemsend of listAmerica’s pop culture dominance has meant that songs and movies have introduced these cultural staples to the rest of the world, even among those who don’t celebrate Thanksgiving or fully understand it.But to millions of Indigenous Americans, the story of Thanksgiving is also closely intertwined with their history of invasion, occupation, displacement, death and devastation that their communities faced as waves of settlers arrived and took over what is today the US. Re-enactment of the first Thanksgiving dinner in Plymouth, Massachusetts, in 1621 with a Pilgrim family and a Wampanoag man [Shutterstock]Here’s a look at what the historical journey of the US has meant to its Native American communities through maps showing where they once lived, how they had to move and the reservations they are now largely ghettoised in.When did Thanksgiving become a national holiday?In 1863, a proclamation by President Abraham Lincoln turned the last Thursday of every November into a national holiday for giving thanks.This occurred in the middle of the Civil War in the United States between the Union, or northern part of the country, against the Con …
