Silent Activism for the National Day of Mourning

The push for a new understanding of Thanksgiving

FARGO, N.D. — As many families celebrate Thanksgiving, many bison statues in the FM area have been covered with signs that are against the holiday.

This day for many Native Americans is the National Day of Mourning.

For them, the day is a symbol of the actions taken by the pilgrims and other colonizers when they came to America.

Some say they want people to remember the history behind Thanksgiving.

“People are just unwilling to acknowledge the history that allows NDSU to thrive, allows Fargo to thrive, it allows descendants from several settler colonies to thrive. And so for me, I actually thought it was pretty clever right. There was no damage done; there was no vandalism,” said Hollie Mackey, Associate Professor of Education at NDSU.

The annual protest was started in 1970 by Native Americans in New England and has spanned nationwide.