The American Revolution: Thanksgiving, history and a slap of reality

The 12-hour documentary 'The American Revolution' includes the role of Native Americans.
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REVIEW

So, PBS dropped a new Ken Burns joint, The American Revolution. I suspect MAGA folks will hate it because it includes the history usually left out of our high sdhool history books and includes the role of Blacks and indigenous peoples and knocks a few of our white Founding Fathers off their pedestals.

If not for the native tribes, there probably would not have been a Thanksgiving observance with the Europeans who migrated to ths continent. The religous zeealots who fled Europe would not have survived if not for original locals.

 If you're a history buff like me, this series is a must watch. It's not your grandpappy's tale of Minutemen and redcoats. This one actually talks about the people largely erased from our textbooks: Indigenous Peoples.

Let me tell you, this is long overdue.

As the series emphasizes, the war was also often a struggle between the refugees from Europe and indigenous nations, between enslavers and the enslaved. Some Americans won their freedom. Others, like Native Americans, lost it.

The doc lays it right out there: this whole "freedom" thing for the colonists was, essentially, a war for Native land. The Brits had that Proclamation of 1763 trying to keep folks contained, but the Americans? They wanted to go west, consequences be damned.

Not just sidekicks

The American Revolution, explores the complexities of the war from a wide range of perspectives, including a significant focus on the role of Native Americans. The series, which premiered on November 16, 2025, examines the conflict through the stories of diverse individuals, revealing the virtues and contradictions of the revolutionary period. Native American nations, caught in the middle, were forced into a struggle over land that led to their displacement, and the series highlights their long-overdue visibility in American history, notes the Lakota Times.

The narrative here isn't the usual white-centric fluff. They bring in Native historians, giving us the real deal. The core message is powerful: The Revolution wasn't just about taxes; it was about real estate and who had sovereignty over it. This is a crucial pivot in how we understand American history.

You had the Haudenosaunee Confederacy, a powerful group, totally split. Some went British, some went American (shoutout to the Oneida Nation for their Continental Army assist!), and others tried to stay neutral. It was a messy, brutal time.

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Burns doesn't shy away from the stuff white supremacists don't want to hear about their heroes. While the framers of the Declaration of Indepedence were signing the historic document that espoused "all men created equal" many of them were slave owners. The series also details the significant brutality of the war in "Indian Country," including General George Washington's orders to devastate and burn entire Native towns, orchards, and food stores. That's a piece of history we often gloss over in favor of cherry trees.

Now, there's been some debate about whether the Iroquois Confederacy inspired the US Constitution. It's a talking point, maybe a little romanticized, but the fact remains: these were complex, sovereign nations with sophisticated diplomacy, dealing with the British, French, and Americans as equals, even if the new US government ultimately didn't honor that.

Ken Burns' and PBS's 'The American Revolution' includes the role of indigenous peoples.

A View from the Edge

As an American, I look at our history and think about what my patriotic parents taught me about our adopted land. My folks emphasized English, the language of our new home, so I lost my Tagalog. That's the immigrant experience—trying to fit in while losing a piece of yourself.

This documentary is a good reminder that the "American Dream" was built on the back of Native displacement. It forces us to ask: do our institutions really serve all the people, not just the powerful? It's a test of whether our democracy truly breathes for everyone. The struggle must commence in the field of ideas, as the great Jose W. Diokno used to say, before it can descend into the arena of action.

FYI: How to watch

It's a six-part series, 12 hours total. Plenty of time to get your history fix.Watch the episodes: You can stream it on the PBS website for a limited time.
For the serious viewers: PBS Passport subscribers can stream it for ages.
Bonus Content: Check out the extra resources on PBS LearningMedia.

It’s more than political drama; it’s a vital piece of our national story that we need to hear, understand, and bear witness to. We need closure on our past, or it will continue to haunt us like a political cold case. Go watch it.

EDITOR'S NOTE: For additional commentary, news, views and chismis from an AANHPI perspective, follow me on Threads, on X, BlueSky or at the blog Views From the Edge.

Biden's Indigenous Peoples Day proclamation is history in the making

Native Americans across the nation observed Indigenous Peoples Day instead of Columbus Day.

President Biden is the first U.S. President to proclaim Oct. 11 as Indigenous Peoples Day. He also signed a separate proclamation for Columbus Day.

On Friday, in both proclamations, he sought to walk a thin line to allow Italian Americans to celebrate one of their heroes but also to present American history within the context of today's perspective instead of glorifying Christopher Columbus' voyage in 1492 and the subsequent exploitation and destruction of native civilizations.

In the Columbus Day proclamation, he honored the contributions to America of Italian Americans, who have turned the day into a celebration of all things Italian even though Christopher Columbus' infamous voyage was under the flag of Spain,

RELATED: Christopher Columbus, hero or villan?

In proclaiming Indigenous Peoples Day, Biden fulfilled a campaign pledge to the original inhabitants of the United States.

"In the first week of my Administration, I issued a memorandum reaffirming our Nation’s solemn trust and treaty obligations to American Indian and Alaska Native Tribal Nations and directed the heads of executive departments and agencies to engage in regular, meaningful, and robust consultation with Tribal officials," he said in his historic proclamation.

"Our country was conceived on a promise of equality and opportunity for all people — a promise that, despite the extraordinary progress we have made through the years, we have never fully lived up to. That is especially true when it comes to upholding the rights and dignity of the Indigenous people who were here long before colonization of the Americas began," said Biden. 

"For generations, Federal policies systematically sought to assimilate and displace Native people and eradicate Native cultures. Today, we recognize Indigenous peoples’ resilience and strength as well as the immeasurable positive impact that they have made on every aspect of American society."

He tempered the Columbus Day proclamation by reminding the nation of the true impact of arrival of European explorers and settlers on the America's

“Today, we also acknowledge the painful history of wrongs and atrocities that many European explorers inflicted on Tribal Nations and Indigenous communities,” Biden wrote. “It is a measure of our greatness as a Nation that we do not seek to bury these shameful episodes of our past — that we face them honestly, we bring them to the light, and we do all we can to address them,” Biden said.

  

At the same time he honored and acknowledged the contributions of Italian Americans to the United States.

The Indigenous Peoples Day proclamation included American Indians, Alaskan Natives and Native Hawaiians. It continued, "We must never forget the centuries-long campaign of violence, displacement, assimilation, and terror wrought upon Native communities and Tribal Nations throughout our country."

In Hawaii, Discoverers' Day includes honoring the Polynesians who sailed to the island state.

Since the 1990s, a growing number of states have begun replacing Columbus Day with Indigenous People’s Day — a holiday meant to honor the culture and history of Native Americans.

Indigenous Peoples’ Day has grown in popularity, either replacing or being celebrated along with Columbus Day in towns, cities, states and schools across the nation, according to the History Channel. 

In Hawaii, the day is observed as Discoverers' Day, “to honor all discoverers, including Pacific and Polynesian navigators.”

In much of Latin America, Columbus' arrival is known as Dia de la Raza.

With Deb Haaland, the first Native American Secretary of the Interior, by his side, Biden issued his proclamations on the same day the White House announced its plans to restore territory to two sprawling national monuments in Utah that Trump had stripped of protections from mining and fossil fuel interests. One, Bears Ears, is on land that Native American tribes consider sacred.

Native Americans and their supporters demonstrated in front of the White House today (Oct. 11) to protest oil pipelines transversing and endangering their reservations and water resources and to demand action on the climate crisis. Arrests were made when they disobeyed police orders to move on.

Following is Biden's Presidential Proclamation for Indigenous Peoples' Day:

Since time immemorial, American Indians, Alaska Natives, and Native Hawaiians have built vibrant and diverse cultures — safeguarding land, language, spirit, knowledge, and tradition across the generations. On Indigenous Peoples’ Day, our Nation celebrates the invaluable contributions and resilience of Indigenous peoples, recognizes their inherent sovereignty, and commits to honoring the Federal Government’s trust and treaty obligations to Tribal Nations.

Our country was conceived on a promise of equality and opportunity for all people — a promise that, despite the extraordinary progress we have made through the years, we have never fully lived up to. That is especially true when it comes to upholding the rights and dignity of the Indigenous people who were here long before colonization of the Americas began. For generations, Federal policies systematically sought to assimilate and displace Native people and eradicate Native cultures. Today, we recognize Indigenous peoples’ resilience and strength as well as the immeasurable positive impact that they have made on every aspect of American society. We also recommit to supporting a new, brighter future of promise and equity for Tribal Nations — a future grounded in Tribal sovereignty and respect for the human rights of Indigenous people in the Americas and around the world.

In the first week of my Administration, I issued a memorandum reaffirming our Nation’s solemn trust and treaty obligations to American Indian and Alaska Native Tribal Nations and directed the heads of executive departments and agencies to engage in regular, meaningful, and robust consultation with Tribal officials. It is a priority of my Administration to make respect for Tribal sovereignty and self-governance the cornerstone of Federal Indian policy. History demonstrates that Native American people — and our Nation as a whole — are best served when Tribal governments are empowered to lead their communities and when Federal officials listen to and work together with Tribal leaders when formulating Federal policy that affects Tribal Nations.

The contributions that Indigenous peoples have made throughout history — in public service, entrepreneurship, scholarship, the arts, and countless other fields — are integral to our Nation, our culture, and our society. Indigenous peoples have served, and continue to serve, in the United States Armed Forces with distinction and honor — at one of the highest rates of any group — defending our security every day. And Native Americans have been on the front lines of the COVID-19 pandemic, working essential jobs and carrying us through our gravest moments. Further, in recognition that the pandemic has harmed Indigenous peoples at an alarming and disproportionate rate, Native communities have led the way in connecting people with vaccination, boasting some of the highest rates of any racial or ethnic group.

The Federal Government has a solemn obligation to lift up and invest in the future of Indigenous people and empower Tribal Nations to govern their own communities and make their own decisions. We must never forget the centuries-long campaign of violence, displacement, assimilation, and terror wrought upon Native communities and Tribal Nations throughout our country. Today, we acknowledge the significant sacrifices made by Native peoples to this country — and recognize their many ongoing contributions to our Nation.

On Indigenous Peoples’ Day, we honor America’s first inhabitants and the Tribal Nations that continue to thrive today. I encourage everyone to celebrate and recognize the many Indigenous communities and cultures that make up our great country.

NOW, THEREFORE, I, JOSEPH R. BIDEN JR., President of the United States of America, do hereby proclaim October 11, 2021, as Indigenous Peoples’ Day. I call upon the people of the United States to observe this day with appropriate ceremonies and activities. I also direct that the flag of the United States be displayed on all public buildings on the appointed day in honor of our diverse history and the Indigenous peoples who contribute to shaping this Nation.

IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this eighth day of October, in the year of our Lord two thousand twenty-one, and of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and forty-sixth.

JOSEPH R. BIDEN JR.

EDITOR'S NOTE: For additional commentary, observations, tips and references, follow me on Twitter @dioknoed for news and views from an AAPI perspective.

From the Edge: Another way to observe Thanksgiving

Credit Eric S. Carlson

An illustration of ancient Native Americans in central Alaska. The 12,000-year-old skeleton of an infant girl found there offers genetic clues to how people arrived in the Americas.

OPINION

WE DON'T KNOW their actual names, but the Alaskan natives who live in Central Alaska today call one of the girls Xach’itee’aanenh t’eede gaay (Sunrise child-girl) and the other Yełkaanenh t’eede gaay (Dawn twilight child-girl). Their remains were discovered a few years ago at a site known today as the Upward Sun River.

About 11,000 years ago, a grieving family buried their six-week-old baby girl, a three-year-old child, and a preterm female fetus. According to their ancient traditions, the children were buried under a hearth inside their home along with the carefully crafted stone points and bone foreshafts of hunting lances.

Scientists earlier this year, scientists published results of their DNA study of the two girls provides biological evidence and confirms the archaeological remains that the early people of the Americas came from Asia and their DNA can be found in descendants of the original inhabitants who would spread through the millennia to North and South America.

“These are only the second-oldest human remains in the New World where we have this full nuclear genomic analysis, so this is really kind of new territory,” explains coauthor Ben Potter, an archaeologist at the University of Alaska Fairbanks. “With archaeology, we have bits of detritus left behind. We get clues that we [use] to build inferential arguments in a forensic sort of way. Just the fact that we have these human remains opens up amazing windows” into these people’s lives, he adds.

As we feast this day on turkey and the ethnic dishes Asian Americans like to include for special occasions (for us it is the Filipino lumpia and pancit), most Native Americans, to whom recent discoveries link to Asians, are in mourning.

The day in 1621 when the 90 members of the Wampanoag shared food with the Pilgrims, celebrated today as Thanksgiving by the descendants of that radical religious group from Europe, people of the First Nations see the day as the beginning of the demise of their way of life.

The years that follow will see countless broken treaties, driven from ancestral lands, unfulfilled promises, starvation, disease and futile war. 

While watching the movie, Map of the Human Heart, starring Jason Scott Lee, I was startled when I heard a familiar word as the actors spoke the Inuit language called Inuktikut. The actors talk about their children, using the word "anak." What made me sit up and make notice was knowing that "anak," also means children in Tagalog, one of the dialects of the Philippines.

Oh .. the connections.

The linguistic link with the Inuit and Southeast Asia is just another piece of evidence of our similarities although the environment we live in are so different.

The real history of native peoples and their interactions with people from Europe, sadly, come to the same conclusion -- whether they be the Aztecs, Incas, Cherokees, Seminole, Seven Nations or the Wampanoag.

Today, in downtown Plymouth, Massachusetts, recalled the disease, racism and oppression that the European settlers brought.

It’s the 49th year that the United American Indians of New England have organized the event on Thanksgiving Day.

Moonanum James, a co-leader of the group, says: “Native people have no reason to celebrate the arrival of the Pilgrims.”

Scientists call the two girls' people the Ancient Beringians, who used the long-sunken land bridge between Siberia and Alaska. About 25,000 and 36,000 years ago, they gradually broke from their East Asian ancestors. Between 18,000 and 22,000 years ago, the Beringians broke with the populations of other Native Americans and were probably absorbed into peoples who arrive later.

But the research suggests that today's Native Americans are linked to those early peoples -- as are we Asian Americans.

As new immigrants from Asia come to our shores, they are continuing the long historical trek first taken by long-forgotten hunter-gatherers always seeking greener pastures. They share the same goals and dreams of today's migrants, whether they come from Asia or Central America.

Today we remember Sunrise and Dawn for reminding us of our human connections and  remind Asian Americans of our commonality with Native Americans.

EDITOR'S NOTE: For additional commentary, news and views with an AAPI perspective, follow me on Twitter @DioknoEd.
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Trump supporters call Native American legislators 'illegal'

Arizona's Rep. Eric Descheenie

I LOVE BASEBALL and I attended Spring Training a couple of to watch the S.F. Giants and the Oakland A's, watching the players up close and relaxing in the warm Arizona sun.

Unfortunately, I haven't gone to Spring Training in recent years because as an Asian/American and with my dark complexion, I feel very uncomfortable in the Sunshine State.

Two recent incidents just reinforced that feeling.

On Thursday, January 25, 2018, several armed Donald Trump supporters, carrying Trump flags, surrounded Arizona state Rep. Pamela Hannley and yelled at her about her “protecting illegals” near the state Capitol in Phoenix. 

Representatives Eric Descheenie (D-Chinle) and Wenona Benally (D-Window Rock), were passing by on their way to lunch. Both are Navajo.

Benally recounts the event for Native News Online:

“Rep. Descheenie stepped in between them and Rep. Hannley, in order to protect her from them. As soon as he did so, it drew the attention of the rest of the Trump protesters. The rest of the Trump protestors quickly walked over to us, surrounding us and aggressively yelling at us about our support for ‘'llegals.'

"I quickly walked back into the House of Representatives building to call for a security escort. A security guard came out of the building and proceeded to escort us to the farmer’s market next to the building. The Trump protestors followed behind the security guard and continued to yell at us, until the security guard blocked their entrance into the farmers market. They finally left us alone and headed back to the front of the building. Once we were done making our purchases at the farmer’s market, we had to re-enter the back of the building for our safety.

Benally says the Trump supporters were at the Capitol on Thursday intimidating and verbally assaulting, not only dark-skinned lawmakers and staffers, but young school children who were there to meet with their legislative representatives.

“There was absolutely no need for them to be armed. It was a very intimidating and frightening situation to have a group of armed protestors aggressively following us and screaming at us,” said Benally.

Two days later, Trump supporters used racist language against dark-skinned public servants while rallying against immigration, the Arizona Capitol Times reported Saturday.

Supporters of Donald Trump singled out dark-skinned lawmakers, legislative staffers and children at the Capitol on Jan. 25 as they protested congressional efforts to pass immigration reform, according to staffers of the Arizona Legislature and two Democratic legislators, AZ Capitol Times reported. “Waving large flags in support of Trump while standing between the House and Senate buildings, the protesters, who were also armed, asked just about anyone who crossed their path if they ‘support illegal immigration.’”

One dark-skinned Arizonian who was asked if he was in the country “illegally” was Descheenie. His response was classic:

“I’m indigenous to these lands,” Descheenie replied. “My ancestors fought and died on these lands. I just told them, ‘Don’t ask me that question.’”

Trump is dividing the people of United States with his racist rhetoric and policies, egging on his supporters. Asking Native Americans if they were in the U.S. illegally would be laughable if the incidents were not indicative of a much more serious problem. 

Regular readers who expect an Asian/American angle to this post might be disappointed.  When someone attacks a person of color, they are attacking all of us. As we start African American History Month, that's something to keep in mind, especially those new immigrants who can't perceive the commonalities and links we have with each other.

The biggest question raised by this whole incident is how the Navajo legislator, Rep.  Descheenie, managed to keep from going berserk when told to go back to his own country.
To Native Americans, we're all illegal immigrants.

Remember the motto: E Pluribus Unum (Out of Many, One). Trump is chipping away at that most American of values; that which makes the U.S. exceptional among nations of the world.
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Thanksgiving, 1621 to 2017

Uh ... The first Thanksgiving was not like this painting.

THE POPULAR MYTH of Thanksgiving was that in 1621, the Pilgrim's invited the Native Americans to a feast for a successful harvest. We now know there's more to the story but Native Americans still have reason to regret their welcoming attitude to the undocumented aliens in their land.

A year ago, Native Americans and environmentalists were at Standing Rock, South Dakota trying to prevent the construction of the oil pipeline across their land out of fear of contamination of their water source.

In November that year, when officials became agitated with the ongoing presence of the protestors, the demonstrators were sprayed with water and tear gas in freezing cold weather. That same fall, security dogs reportedly bit protesters on multiple occasions.

Thanksgiving last year at Standing Rock included police tear-gassing the protestors.

Donald Trump's oil-friendly administration removed any environmental or legal barriers to the pipeline last February, opening the way for the construction of the Dakota Access Pipeline.

The dire warnings of environmental danger came true last week when more than 200,000 gallons of crude oil leaked out of the South Dakota pipeline, a leak that engineers said wouldn't happen.

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TransCanada confirmed that on Nov. 17, that the leak, the largest in the state to date, follows another leak in April from the Dakota Access Pipeline that tainted the land with nearly 17,000 gallons.

"It is a below-ground pipeline, but some oil has surfaced above ground to the grass," Walsh said of the most recent environmental setback. "It will be a few days until they can excavate and get in borings to see if there is groundwater contamination."

We're tempted to say, "We told you so," but that won't stop the oil industry from lobbying for more pipelines, more oil and -- despite the industry's assurances -- we can expect with certainty, more oil spills.

Tnanksgiving 2017: The Dakota of 200,000 gallons of oil last week is leaching into the ground and threatens
the water supply
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