The Committee for IPD Wellesley, World of Wellesley and Equal Justice in Needham for Families are excited to announce our virtual event: Myth Busting Thanksgiving on November 22, 2021 at 7:00PM EST! Kisha James (Wampanoag Tribe of Gay Head Aquinnah and Oglala Lakota) will be debunking the settler narrative of Thanksgiving that remains pervasive in our classrooms and communities. The presentation will be followed by a live Q&A.
Automatic captions will be provided. This event is not appropriate for children.
Kisha James is an enrolled member of the Wampanoag Tribe of Gay Head (Aquinnah) and Oglala Lakota. She is a youth organizer and archivist for United American Indians of New England (UAINE) and a youth organizer for the statewide MA Indigenous Peoples Day campaign. Kisha is the granddaughter of Wamsutta Frank James, the Aquinnah Wampanoag man who started the National Day of Mourning protest in 1970. His famous suppressed speech, which was the catalyst for the first National Day of Mourning, has been regularly cited in “great speeches” anthologies and is read in classrooms nationwide every Thanksgiving. Kisha now co-leads the organizing efforts for the National Day of Mourning. She regularly gives speeches to public groups, private organizations, and classrooms across New England and the U.S. as a whole around rethinking the Thanksgiving myth.