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Some Thanksgiving thoughts
Nov. 25th, 2004 09:25 pmMy immigrant ancestors were much braver (and hardier) than I am, from William Bradford in 1620 to the most recent, Dorothea Steinmann in 1860-something. Imagine the act of faith involved, to get on a boat and sail across the Atlantic, to a land you'd never even seen accurate pictures of, where you'd have to work hard just to survive. Today we collectively commemorated their efforts by... cooking and eating a lot.
People with colonial and/or pioneer ancestors generally take pride in them, and sure, that's fun, but I think those of us whose families have had more years in the land also have more cumulative responsibility to reflect on. For example, I understand that Gov. Bradford was respectful to the native people around Plymouth Bay, concerned not to be displacing them, understanding that he was at first a guest in their land who should negotiate rather than just take. His son William, though, was a different story -- apparently because he was born in America, he felt just as entitled as the people who'd been here for generations, and unfortunately he behaved that way.
The film version of Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban sure left out a lot of important explanation, but I loved seeing all the beautiful scenery -- the new director had very different priorities than the original one. I'm so glad I read the (terrific) book first.
People with colonial and/or pioneer ancestors generally take pride in them, and sure, that's fun, but I think those of us whose families have had more years in the land also have more cumulative responsibility to reflect on. For example, I understand that Gov. Bradford was respectful to the native people around Plymouth Bay, concerned not to be displacing them, understanding that he was at first a guest in their land who should negotiate rather than just take. His son William, though, was a different story -- apparently because he was born in America, he felt just as entitled as the people who'd been here for generations, and unfortunately he behaved that way.
The film version of Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban sure left out a lot of important explanation, but I loved seeing all the beautiful scenery -- the new director had very different priorities than the original one. I'm so glad I read the (terrific) book first.