Celebrated November 21
Also known as Fourth Thursday or more traditionally Thanksgiving Day, Thrinóntas Day (said three-KNOWN-tuhs) is the Greek-named Interconnectionist version of the holiday, which translates into Grieving Day. Similar to the Native American "Mourning Day", Interconnectionists use this holiday to recognize and appreciate all that the Native Americans did for the colonials, while grieving for the lives that were brutally lost considering what the colonials did to the Native Americans in turn.
The Schedule: Thrinóntas Day is an all-day celebration intermixed with mourning starting with a 10-11a.m. service, followed by sanctuary-driven activities, and then dinner at 4:30p.m. open to all surrounding community members who wish to join regardless of their affiliation—or lack thereof—to the fellowship.
The Service: A late morning congregation hour is held revolving around the meaning and importance behind Thrinóntas Day, in addition to the symbolism represented throughout the sanctuary, and the day that is ahead of the members of the sanctuary. The goal: To offer an unvarnished view of what the archetypal Thanksgiving celebration meant for those who lived in America when the Pilgrims landed. This includes inviting Native Americans to speak up about what this day means for them. Additional importance is placed on having reverence for the plants, the animals, and all the other things that sustain us.
Décor: Sanctuaries are still decorated with Aequinoctium décor, with a few additional items including but not limited to statues of buffalo and wolves, bundles of sage, drums, corn, and corn dolls.
Main Activities: Feasting, celebrating diversity, live streaming of National Day of Mourning 2021 from Cole's Hill Plymouth Rock (if available. A previous recording may otherwise be played), creating cornucopias, basket weaving, and the Walk of Tears. The latter of which is a take off on the Trail of Tears—a brutal route the Native Americans were forced to walk along as they were heinously removed from their ancestral lands as a form of "ethnic cleansing". Items in the Walk of Tears are located throughout the sanctuary, each with a placard telling the story of the significance of that item. Examples of items found along the Walk of Tears:
- A folded blanket accompanied by a bottle of liquor that tells the story of small pox
- Cornucopia baskets that detail the graciousness of the Native Americans to help the colonials survive and how this kindness was indeed returned with vile hatred and greed
- A buffalo statue and the importance of the buffalo to the Native Americans, and the history of the buffalo massacres
- A wolf statue and the importance of the wolf to the Native Americans, and why the colonials began to eradicate them
- Contracts and stories of how they were broken and/or used against the tribes
- Other items of significance to Native American tribes. Note that these items, if they are a legitimate Native American item, must be donated to the sanctuary by a Native American tribe and returned to the tribe promptly after Thrinóntas Day is over (or at another agreed upon time).
- WARNING: Failure to return any tribe-donated items will be seen as an assault, robbery, and theft to and of the tribe(s) by the Supreme Board, and will result in immediate termination of the entire sanctuary responsible. Other charges may also be pursued by the fellowship as a whole. The Native American tribe(s) who donated their unreturned items may also press additional charges.
No comments:
Post a Comment