Sunday, November 24, 2024 – 11:15 am

A Choctaw’s Understanding of Thanksgiving
Adam Salazar, guest speaker

Thanksgiving today may have little connection with the Plymouth harvest festival 400 years ago, but it has a long history, nevertheless. Originally a regional observance in colonial New England, Thanksgiving began as a solemn affair.

Rather than a day of feasting, it was a day for fasting and quiet reflection.  As the holiday took root in the United States, so did the need for a distinctly American origin story, and the harvest festival two centuries earlier was remade as the “First Thanksgiving.” While Thanksgiving continues to evolve as each generation of Americans brings new meaning to the day and how it’s celebrated, the tradition of coming together to share a meal and reflect on all that we’re grateful for endures.

We’ve invited Adam Salazar, who is on staff at the Choctaw Nations Community Engagement and Outreach Mission to speak about Choctaw’s history of Thanksgiving.  It falls during the Native America Heritage Month.