Thanksgiving

Today is the American Thanksgiving, which means Adam gets an extra long weekend and we're going to a friend's for dinner and they're making a lot of distinctly American dishes. Fun!
Being the history/ anthropological geek I am I was thinking about the beginnings of Thanksgiving. We all know the story, the Pilgrims were fools and didn't plan and the local Indians helped them out, they had a great shared meal and they all loved each other. Until the next day when the Pilgrims took the land, by force and justified it by quoting bible verses. The trend continues the Indians and First Nations (depending on which country you're in to determine which term is more correct) are forced off of their lands into small, dismal reservations, forced to give up their languages and forced to practice their culture in secret. The budding governments justify this and more and more genocide happens, either with the killing of masses of non-Europeans or by forcing out their culture. And yet Thanksgiving is still celebrated. Some people hate Thanksgiving, citing some of the reasons I've stated.
I don't hate it. I hate where is came from, but now I see it more as a family holiday, like it's been colloquialized (to make up a word), like Christmas to the non-religious folk. It's a day for us to relax and reflect on our lives. I think it serves a purpose in today's busy lifestyle and I will continue to celebrate today.
But I won't recount the stupid Indian and Pilgrim story, damn puritans with their bible justified killing. sigh.