November 26, 2024: Are Genocide and Land Theft Our Thanks for the First Thanksgiving

The story of the first Thanksgiving tells us that in 1621, the Wampanoag saved the Pilgrims from starvation.  Are genocide and land theft our thanks to the indigenous of what became the USA and the world?

We started the show by noting significant dates from the past, such as the 11/22/63 assassination of JFK and his burial i Arlington National Ceremony on 11/25, and today when on 11/17 President Biden gave Ukraine authorization to use USA ATACMS missiles to hit targets inside Russia and on 11/20 when Senate resolution to cease military aid to Israel to aid and abet a genocide failed by 18-79.  Ironically, this was the day in 1778 when English explorer James Cook made his first visit to Maui, a subject of our show.  

We started our conversation with the 15th century Doctrine of Christian Discovery that proclaimed the right of Christian nations' explorers to take possession of the lands of non-Christians in the interest of saving their souls.  What followed can best be described as genocide of the indigenous via wars and starvation and dispossession of their land for colonization and theft of resources.  Following the successful completion of Manifest Destiny and the confinement of indigenous in reservations and under the control of the Department of Interior as their trustee, the USA, via purchase and war, acquired Alaska, Hawaii, Puerto Rico, Guam and the Philippines and domination of Cuba for corporate benefits and strategic locations for military bases.  But the indigenous have been fighting back, within the USA at Alcatraz, Wounded Knee, Standing Rock and Hawai'i, and on the Pacific islands that want sovereignty for their lives and cultures and an end to the military presence that makes them targets of USA imperialism.  And then there is the settler colonial project in Israel that is carrying out genocide of indigenous Palestinians and theft of their land with munitions and funds from the USA.

Happy Thanksgiving, y'all.