This question always comes up this time of year usually from teachers and friends who want to offer their students or children something better than what they were brought up with — books about a happy meal shared by Pilgrims and Indians.

Some basics: of course we shouldn’t teach false history. Among the teachers I work with there is general agreement that the traditional Thanksgiving story is unforgivably inaccurate, upholds the ideals of White supremacy, and is harmful to students (most notably to Indigenous students). The pull to find a “good” Thanksgiving book shows a commitment to disrupting the story we were brought up with and repairing some of the harm it has caused.

When I am grappling with anything related to Indigenous children’s literature I head straight to AICL to see what Debbie Reece has to say about it. Sure enough, something was there. Here’s one part that stood out to me:

What I’m getting at, in part, is that I don’t want to be a player in your story. I don’t want to be on your stage. I want you to see me and Pueblo people (in my case) as a people that existed and exists on its own merits—not as minor characters, or colorful ones, in the story that America tells about America.

You can read the whole blog post here. It reminds me to center the perspective of Indigenous people instead of defaulting to the convenient response of decoupling the holiday from its historical roots by focusing on gratitude, food, and family.

Here is a short video project. In it, the interviewer asked indigenous participants to free associate with the word, “Thanksgiving.” Here’s what they said:

Here are some of the books recommended on the blog with links to content. Click the cover to see more about the book (with additional links to teaching materials).

Some of my other favorites that are not specifically about the Thanksgiving holiday but are written by Indigenous authors, center Indigenous lives, and are about family, culture, and traditions are:

Fry Bread: A Native American Family Story written by Kevin Noble Maillard and illustrated by Juana Martinez-Neal.

We Are Grateful: Otsaliheliga written by Tracy Sorrell and illustrated by Frane´ Lessac.

 

A Day with Yayah written by Nicola Campbell and illustrated by Julie Flett.

 

 

 

 

 

Are there “good” Thanksgiving books? Maybe not. But these books are a good place to start having conversations with our students about the truth of the holiday and to use it as an opportunity to honor Indigenous people past, present, and future.