A tale of traditions: How my crimson-clad American Indian family in Oklahoma spent Thanksgiving
DALLAS – Thanksgiving is a time for tradition and history. One of my favorites started 24 years ago when I was an editor for a Fort Worth newspaper.
It was the day before Thanksgiving and I was talking to coworkers about vacation plans.
Some colleagues stayed at home. Some are leaving the city.
A colleague who knew I was of Native American descent (I grew up in Muscogee Creek / Menominee / Potawatomi and grew up in Oklahoma) seemed particularly curious about me and just went on and asked:
“What are your people doing?” with a clear emphasis on “yours”.
If you live in Texas you will find that people don’t see many Indians here. Here we usually appear as caricatures, like cigar shop Indians or Cowtown reenactors. People here are more used to the cartoon images they see on the helmets of Washington’s NFL team or the logos of the Cleveland baseball team that plays the Rangers.
But if you get asked a question by a coworker, you really can’t get annoyed at nosy people who are more used to seeing American Indians screaming and being shot in John Wayne films. You tend to get confused if you don’t wear pearls or feathers.
After hearing this question and other comments (like my remarkable English) from well-meaning people, I didn’t mean to come across as impolite, so I politely replied, “Nice that you asked.”
“You see,” I told my co-workers as they leaned forward, “when I was in Oklahoma about 20 years ago, Thanksgiving was a special time for our people. We would gather in homes all over Oklahoma like no other time. The women worked over hot stoves night and morning. The men also got ready and searched their closets to find red clothes that still fit and were appropriate for this special time of reverence. “
The colleague seemed increasingly fascinated.
“While the women cooked, the men gathered in a semicircle in the front room and focused on what was going to happen. Her red clothes would coincide with this time of reverence. A brotherhood should arise. “
The colleague was impressed. “Whoa,” she said. “Then what? Then what?”
“Then,” I replied, “we would wait for the Oklahoma-Nebraska soccer game to start on TV.”
She may have been disappointed, but everyone laughed. And I’m glad she asked.
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