Thread by @GlennonDoyle

Thread: As we celebrate today, let us take time to appreciate & share the truth.
While this holiday purports to mark friendship among Indigenous peoples & Pilgrims in 1621, the truth is the U.S. government authorized over 1,500 wars, attacks & raids on Indigenous peoples 1/9

The truth is that our forced removals & land theft; biological warfare (intentionally distributing blankets contaminated with smallpox); and campaign of massacres amounted to genocide. 2/9

From Columbus’s arrival to 400 years later, the Indigenous population in North America plummeted from up to 15 Million people to fewer than 238,000.
As @prophiphop says, “Enjoy your turkey. Tell your kids the truth.”
// h/t to the brilliant relentless @KaitlinCurtice // 3/9

The truth is that the Oglala Lakota peoples living on The Pine Ridge Reservation--the 8th-largest reservation in the US, larger than Delaware & Rhode Island combined--struggle to survive every winter. Temperatures drop to 40 degrees below zero. Heat comes from wood stoves. 4/9

They do not have enough firewood. Kids have reported suicide attempts as an effort to end the struggle against the cold.
Pervasive poverty forces residents to make an impossible choice: whether to keep their children warm, or keep their children fed. 5/9

This week, through @togetherrising Your money will fund all wood, and employment of Indigenous men and women who will cut, split and distribute the wood for the community, as well as a storage facility to maintain and protect wood reserves. 6/9

Your funds will also establish and fully stock 3 new strategically located Food Centers -managed and staffed by Indigenous people. 7/9

Your funds are also going to sustainability and self-sufficiency– the growth of traditional food directly on the Reservation, and developing the capacity of the buffalo herd to feed, and become an economic engine, for the people. 8/9

As we enjoy the warmth and food of our tables today, we remember and mourn the truth, we honor the relentless resolve of Indigenous peoples, and we thank you for supporting Together Rising. 9/9

This week, through @togetherrising, you gave $400,000 to One Spirit, a non-profit primarily run by Indigenous people – to keep those on the Reservation warm this year, and to cover all fixed costs of heat for next year. 6/9

This week, through @togetherrising, you gave $400,000 to One Spirit, a non-profit primarily run by Indigenous people – to keep those on the Reservation warm this year, and to cover all fixed costs of heat for next year