2010-11-27

感恩?!

我對感恩節的來龍去脈一知半解,借此機會自我教育一番。

- 維基百科:感恩節 | Wikipedia: Thanksgiving (英文版比中文版和諧得多)

- Judy Dow (Abenaki) and Beverly Slapin: Deconstructing the Myths of “The First Thanksgiving”

- US State Department: Thanksgiving Day a Time for Reflection, Gratitude, Sharing - American tradition rooted in 1621 New England harvest celebration

- National Museum of the American Indian: Harvest Ceremony - Beyond the Thanksgiving Myth

- National Museum of the American Indian: American Indian Perspectives on Thanksgiving (For Teachers Grades 4-8)

- LEARN NC: Teaching about Thanksgiving

- Aaron Huey: The Myth of Thanksgiving and the Legacy of Manifest Destiny

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感恩節由來的主流和諧版:“上帝”的賜予──感恩節

就在移民們束手無策,坐以待斃時,第二年春天的一個早晨,一名印第安人走進了普利茅斯村。他自我介紹說,他是臨近村落的印第安酋長派來察看情況的。 ... 酋長是個慷慨熱情的人,他向移民表示了熱烈的歡迎,給他們送來了許多生活必需品作禮物。派來了最有經驗﹑最能幹的印第安人,教給移民們怎樣在這塊土地上生活,教他們捕魚﹑狩獵﹑耕作以及飼養火雞等技能。

這一年,天公作美,風調雨順,再加上印第安人的指導和幫助,移民們獲得了大豐收,終於闖過了生活的難關,過上了安定﹑富裕的日子,就在這一年秋天,已成為普利茅斯總督的布雷德福頒佈了舉行盛典,感謝上帝睠顧的決定,這就是歷史上的第一個感恩節。當然,他沒有忘記為移民們排懮解難的真正“上帝”──熱情﹑好客﹑智慧的印第安人,特地邀請馬薩索德和他手下的印第安人前來參加節日慶典。

印第安人欣然接受了邀請,提前送來了5只鹿作為禮物。11月底的一天,移民們大擺筵席,桌子上擺滿了自山林中打來的野味和用自產的玉米﹑甫瓜﹑ 筍瓜﹑火雞等製作的佳餚。慶祝活動一共進行了3天,白天,賓主共同歡宴,暢敘友情。晚上,草地上燃起了熊熊簧火,在涼爽的秋風中,印第安小伙子同普利茅斯殖民地的年輕人一起跳舞﹑唱歌﹑摔跤﹑射箭,氣氛非常熱烈。


LEARN NC: Teaching about Thanksgiving:

Having heard about the peaceful Thanksgiving meal, students often think that relations between colonists and native people were, on the whole, very fair and friendly and that the first Thanksgiving ushered in a period of peace and good relations that lasted indefinitely. In reality, of course, the story of relations between Europeans and Native Americans is not so rosy and students must understand the role of European disease, unkept promises, cultural conflict, and disputes over land and resources in defining long-term relationships between Europeans and American Indians. As the “Harvest Ceremony: Beyond the First Thanksgiving” article from the Museum of the American Indian makes clear, the relative peace between the Pilgrims and the Wampanoag began to deteriorate as early as the 1660s, resulting in war by 1675. While it is important for students to celebrate the period of peace and mutual aid, they must also understand that the first Thanksgiving story is but one small piece of the long and often tragic history of relations between native people and European colonists.


戀戀東清灣:感恩節:歷史的虛偽與矛盾

感恩節是美國民俗上一個重要的節日,當美國第一批抵達美洲大陸移民幾乎無法在新環境的嚴冬存活下來的的時候,印第安人適時提供這些移民食物與庇護,並教導他們耕作與狩獵技巧,讓這些移民得以存活,為了感念印地安人及時的援助,於是於每年11月的第4個星期四訂為感恩節。看看美國的拓殖史與北美原住民的現況,你會發現這個節日一點也沒有感恩的味道,更是白人把災難帶給北美原住民的開始。

當新移民像擋不住的潮水般,一波接著一波湧向新大陸,耕作與居住的土地不足,於是與原住民之間產生爭奪土地的糾紛。再加上新移民要原住民放棄基督教觀點的「野蠻信仰」,兩著之間的衝突日漸增加。一直到美國政府要向西部大舉拓殖時,到最後竟然演變成白人為了爭奪土地,於是對北美大陸的原住民進行大規模系統式的種族屠殺。

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- 魚之樂:感誰的恩?

- 我眼中的世界:感恩节话感恩:我们应该感谢谁?

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