THANKSGIVING THE FIRST
by John
Haag
The Indians, as we called them,
were always
ready for a party
anyway,
so Thanksgiving suited them as well
as
any other giving. Besides, they
thought
maybe we’d come finally with
our
pigtails loose. Fat chance! The
elders
would see to our decorum; but
any
feast is good for the belly, and
surely
doesn’t hurt the disposition
any.
Even the elders might crack a
smile.
So we communicated with our
savage-
looking brothers (in our own
King’s
English, you may be sure)
generously
embroidered with the native
pantomime.
On the day appointed the
whole tribe
came dolled up in such finery as
we’d
never seen before: eagle
feathers,
bead and bone breast-plates and
brightly
painted robes and tunics whose
colors
were new to
us.
The chiefs
led
a glorious procession followed by
braves
with longbows and multi-colored
arrows.
Of course, the women carried the
goodies
and shepherded the children, shy as
deer,
with sudden, sweet smiles and decked
out
as lavishly as their
elders.
Our
own
elders in their black frock coats and
plain black hats stood still as graven
images as the procession
neared.
I wondered if their excessive
stiffness
were not a touch of shock, either
at
the magnificence of the display or
maybe
the irrefutable dignity of our
savages.
Their war chief stalked
directly to our
leader and without words
broke a
decorated war arrow, tossed the
pieces
with disdain upon the ground, then
held
up crossed forearms in their sign
of
friendship. He then made the gestures
meaning, “Welcome to this land!
We
have waited for your coming, to enrich
our lives. May your children and
ours
live together in the arms of the Great
Spirit.”
Our elders later found
all kinds of
fault with these heathen
sentiments,
but at the time I noticed
eyes
glistening with more than the brisk
weather,
and that evening under the harvest
moon
there were joinings between them and
us
that were not spoken of
afterward.
Posted: Fri - November 1, 2002 at 06:38 PM