PRI: Indigenous chef Sean Sherman wants you to know the truth behind Thanksgiving

"When you read about history, you read a lot about the hardships that happened between the colonists and the Native peoples that were living there on the East Coast," said Sherman. "And a lot of really brutal stories come out of that history."

The Sioux Chef's Indigenous Kitchen (Sean Sherman)In elementary school, Sean Sherman did what most kids do before the Thanksgiving holiday. He and his classmates made paper cutouts of turkeys, pilgrim hats and Indian feathers. He also learned the story of Indians and Pilgrims getting together to share a big feast.

 

There's some irony here: Sherman went to school on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in South Dakota. He's a citizen of the Oglala Lakota Sioux tribe. All of his classmates were Native American, yet they learned nothing about the Wampanoag, the tribe referenced in the Thanksgiving story we all learned in school. He didn't learn the darker side of a holiday we all associate with togetherness, food and unity.

 

"When you read about history, you read a lot about the hardships that happened between the colonists and the Native peoples that were living there on the East Coast," said Sherman. "And a lot of really brutal stories come out of that history."

 

Full story (and audio) here.

Published in: PRI
By: Allison Herrera