Thanksgiving A Loaded Holiday for Many Native-Americans

When Bobbi Webster, a member of the Oneida Nation, talks about being thankful, she mentions the strawberry harvest, tapping maple trees for syrup, the summer solstice and seasonal change. Feasting, family and giving thanks are the root of multiple thanksgiving celebrations spread throughout the year for the Oneida and other American Indians.

And on this fourth Thursday in November, Webster, like millions of Americans, will gather with her family for a feast, make her mother's recipes for chocolate cake and cranberries, talk about gratitude and celebrate Thanksgiving

"Some see it with hostility. Some celebrate it with guilt, while others see it as an opportunity to educate and get in touch with our Americana," said Patty Loew, a historian, journalist and member of the Bad River Ojibwe.

Thanksgiving, and November's National American Indian Heritage Month, as a chance to correct that image and replace it with a deeper understanding