For Some Americans, Today Is 'Day of Mourning'

"No thanks, no giving"
By Newser Editors and Wire Services
Posted Nov 23, 2017 9:00 AM CST
For Some Americans, Today Is 'Day of Mourning'
In this Nov. 22, 2001, file photo, Tall Oak, center, of the Pequot Wampanoag tribe stands wrapped in a US flag next to his wife, Cammetah, of the Mashpee Wampanoag tribe, during a "National Day of Mourning" gathering by American Indians and supporters in Plymouth, Mass.   (AP Photo/Steven Senne, File)

Members of Native American tribes from around New England are gathering in the town where the Pilgrims settled for a solemn National Day of Mourning observance. Thursday's noon gathering in downtown Plymouth, Massachusetts, will recall the disease, racism, and oppression that European settlers brought. It's the 48th year that the United American Indians of New England have organized the event on Thanksgiving Day, reports the AP.

Moonanum James, a co-leader of the group, says native people have no reason to celebrate the arrival of the Pilgrims in 1620. James says: "Today we say 'no thanks, no giving.'" Along with prayers and public speeches, participants will condemn environmental degradation and government restrictions on immigration. They also plan a "stomp dance" to symbolically stomp out opioid addiction, which has ravaged many native communities.

(More Native Americans stories.)

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