By AnoushTerTaulian

Armenians know how conquerors, who commit genocide against indigenous peoples, can fabricate lies that lead to miseducation and false celebrations.

On Thanksgiving Day, for three years, I have traveled to Plymouth Rock, Massachusetts to support the United American Indians of New England (UAINE) who have declared Thanksgiving a National Day of Mourning to expose the lie that a turkey dinner was shared by the pilgrims and natives.

They say the truth is that Governor John Wintrop proclaimed the first official "Day of Thanksgiving" in 1637 to celebrate the return of men that had gone to Mystic, Connecticut to fight against the Pequot resulting in the deaths of 700 Pequot women, children and men. So on Thanksgiving Day while many families are gathered around a dinner table, the United American Indians of New England are marching in protest at Plymouth Rock and are telling how the pilgrims sold the Wampanoag people as slaves for 220 shillings each and confiscated their land and food supplies.

When Moonanum James, the Co-Leader of UNAINE was asked if he will ever stop protesting he said: "We will stop protesting when the merchants of Plymouth are no longer making millions of dollars off the blood of our slaughtered ancestors. We will stop protesting when we can act as sovereign nations on our own land without the interference of the Bureau of Indian Affairs; when corporations stop polluting our mother, the earth and when racism has been eradicated. When the oppression of Two-Spirited people is a thing of the past...and all the political prisoners are free."

At the ceremonies at the National Day of Mourning they honor their Native ancestors and the struggles of Native peoples to survive today. They always remember Leonard Peltier, a Native American activist who was falsely convicted murder and is the longest imprisoned Native political prisoner in America. There has been a worldwide campaign to overturn his wrongful conviction.

Native peoples in America are also protesting the lies about Columbus Day. On October 12 I attended the Indigenous Day of Remembranceat Columbus Circle in New York City. When Columbus landed in the Caribbean he noted the Native peoples the Lucayans, Tainos and Arawaks were kind people. The Arawaks had no weapons and their society had no criminals, prisons or prisoners. When his ship the Santa Maria was shipwrecked the Arawaks labored for hours to save his crew and cargo. But Columbus seized their land for Spain and enslaved them to work in his goldmines. If an Indian worker did not deliver his full quota of gold dust by Columbus' deadline, sometimes soldiers would cut off the man's hands and tie them around his neck to send a message. Columbus supervised the selling of native girls into sexual slavery and his soldiers preferred young girls of the ages of 9 or 10. At one point slavery was so intolerable that 100 of the Arawaks committed mass suicide.

One of Columbus' men, Bartolome De Las Casas, was so horrified by the atrocities that he became a Catholic priest and described how the Spaniards under Columbus' command would cut off the legs of children who ran from them to test the sharpness of their blades and made bets as to who, with one sweep of a sword could cut a person in half. He said he eyewitnessed soldiers dismembering, beheading or raping over 3000 native people. When Columbus landed in 1492 it was estimated the native population was above 3 million, but within 20 years it was reduced to only 60,000 and within 50 years it was hard to find a single original native inhabitant. De Las Casas who was not really a kind man suggested they get African slaves and Columbus' son was the first slave trader in the Americas.

Columbus was so cruel and barbaric that GovernorFransisco De Bobadilla arrested Columbus and his two brothers put them into chains and shipped them off to Spain to answer for their crimes against the Arawaks. But the King and Queen of Spain,in love with their gold, pardoned Columbus and freed him.

So why do we celebrate this mass murderer?

 At the rally at Columbus Circle in NYC I talked about the 1915 Armenian Genocide and the brutality of the Turkish conquerors who also made bets on how their swords could kill Armenians. I said I came there in indigenous solidarity because Armenians are indigenous.  I was proud of the city of Seattle declaring October 12 Indigenous Day and wanted to help petition the NY City council to do the same and replace all the streets and places named Columbus with the names of the indigenous peoples who this land really belongs to. Millions of dollars are spent on Thanksgiving Day and Columbus Day parades which perpetuate lies and disrespect the true indigenous history. Most schoolchildren have no idea of the truth.

So fellow Armenians please take the time to educate your families and friends and together send your prayers to the Native peoples protesting false history at The National Day of Mourning at Plymouth  Rock , Massachusetts.