Four is a sacred number for many Indigenous Peoples - as I run, I send my prayers to the four directions so that they reach everywhere, everyone, and everything. I am running 4 miles to remember and link the sacredness of what the number 4 represents to me, to us. I will continue to carry and offer prayers in honor and remembrance for our missing and murdered Indigenous relatives, to honor our ancestors, pray for our next generations, for our communities today, and feel gratitude and joy - of our survival. We are still here.
- Jordan Marie Daniel (Rising Hearts)
The unfortunate first contact between the Wampanoag and European colonizers in 1621 would be the beginning of a centuries long legacy of colonial violence. A white myth written off as a friendly feast celebrating the union of “Indians” and pilgrims was actually a violent encroachment by colonizers on Indigenous lands. Colonizers who came ashore with disease and savage ways of being, overhunted the wildlife, mismanaged the land, and resorted to murder and cannibalism to survive. In a near state of total starvation, colonizers were fed by the true stewards of the land. The favor would never be returned. Instead, the beginning of a genocide project would ensue where the majority of Indigenous peoples in the coastal areas of Turtle Island would be wiped out from murder and colonizer brought diseases. It was not until 1637, that the Massachusetts Bay Governor would proclaim a celebration in the name of God for the massacre of 700 Pequot people. A feast would be had for the success of manifest destiny, a white supremacist wet dream, where in white people advance a racist agenda of eradication and enslavement of Black and Indigenous people.
In 2020, the colonial project has evolved beyond the power of 13 colonies into a system that extracts and exploits finite resources, encourages state sanctioned executions, trafficks people of the global majority into for profit prisons, violates treaties, and denies aid amidst a pandemic that is disproportionately killing Black and Indigenous peoples. Truthsgiving will be a day of mourning, a grounding in our collective survival, and a commitment to never again feed what kills.
The colonial holiday, Thanksgiving 2020 is right around the corner, during a month that acknowledges Native American / Indigenous people – Native American Heritage Month. We first need to acknowledge that the very foundation of Turtle Island (North America), so called, the United States of America began with genocide, disease, wars, pillage, violence, rape, and enslavement since 1492. Then we must recognize and acknowledge that our Black relatives were forcibly removed from their homelands, enslaved, and brought to the islands in the Caribbean and to North and South America. The foundation of this country, was off the genocide of Indigenous Peoples, attempts to completely eradicate our ancestors and stole our lands that were governed by our own relatives as Sovereign Nations. This country was built by enslaved Black people. Both of our communities have experienced these similar traumas and injustice due to colonization, white supremacy, systemic oppression and racism – all mechanisms we still experience to this day.
We would like to present you with a new perspective of what Thanksgiving means and represents. Due to the abundance of false narratives of Native people and inaccurate information in school textbooks, there is a certain lens that we are viewed through. These opinions and beliefs are rooted in discriminatory behaviors and attitudes that are continuously perpetuated through systemic racism and white supremacy. This day is another holiday, like Columbus Day and Halloween, and other narratives, that is problematic and harmful to Native people. Native relatives and allies are taking the steps needed to correct this narrative, to decolonize these holidays and expose the truth about these holidays so that we can remove them, replace them, and perhaps, celebrate Native people and accomplishments rather than being constantly reminded of these injustices and historical trauma. We can’t continue to romanticize and normalize racism and the stereotypes that exist for Native people. So, please, we encourage you to take a deep breath, come to this space with an open mind, learn something new, and become an ally to our communities.
Instagram // @seedingsovereignty & @nativein_la & @rising_hearts
16 laps on a track = 4M
Treadmill
MapMyRun.com
Find a Certified USATF Course
Some run/walk events display course maps at elitefeats.com
Many parks have measured 'fitness' trails open to the public
Download free app Strava & hit 'Record'
Email // [email protected]
1. Run/walk whenever & wherever you'd like!
2. Starting on the event date go to elitefeats.com/Results - click on this event.
3. Search for your name - click UPDATE.
4. Enter your time.
5. OPTIONAL upload up to 5 photos!
#efVirtual
EARLY REGISTRANTS (before start day) can start posting times ON start day!
REGISTRANTS (after start day) allow up to 24 hours to post times.
BIB MAILING begins Monday prior to the start day. Allow 3-5 business days to receive.
You don't need the bib to run/walk, it's a keepsake!
*LAST DAY TO REGISTER & POST TIMES IS 11/28*
Share when you run on social media // upload to STRAVA!
Tag
@seedingsovereignty & @rising_hearts
Hashtags
#Truthsgiving
#RunningForOurHealth
#RunningForTruth
#Truthsgiving2020
#Truthsgiving4miler
#Thankstaking
#KnowTheHistory
This initiative is raising funds and responding to the physical and mental health, economic, and cultural needs of Indigenous Peoples in so-called New Mexico.
With your help, we have successfully provided masks to the Pueblos of NM, Navajo Nation, Jicarilla Apache Nation, and greater urban Indigenous communities of Santa Fe and Albuquerque. We are looking for clinical grade or 100% cotton cloth masks in a range of sizes for communities within and outside of NM with whom we are in kinship. If you are able to send or sew masks for our relatives, please do so while abiding to health guidelines for the safety of all our beloved recipients.