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Tuesday, November 24, 2009

pilgrims

Today as I picked up my kindergartener from school, she pretended not to see me because she had pulled her construction-paper-n- feathers headband over her eyes.

For today's feast she was an Indian*.

Immediately in my mind I was thrown back to second grade or so, to the Feast -- or, likely, many feasts. I always had the feathers and the brown paper bag vest. How I longed to be a Pilgrim. The broad, white paper hat, the clean collar. Instead of wearing it, I sat across from it with much jealousy.

Why did I feel that way? I know that those who were Pilgrims were also the kids with the blond hair, the blue eyes; the girls with the long and straight hair, pulled back into ponytails tied with pink yarn. All things I longed to have for myself.

Do you remember these activities? Do you remember which costume you wore? Did it make an impact on you as it did me?



*don't get all PC with me, I'm part Cherokee.

12 comments:

compulsive writer said...

i was an indian and i was cool with that. i liked being the indian.

what i remember is that my mom didn't make it to the program (because she'd just given birth to her fifth child--hello little girl me, give her a break). i was so sad. i walked home by myself in my paper brown grocery bag costume with tears streaming down my face (hello little girl me, it's not cool to cry in public).

and i needed to go to the bathroom sooooo badly.

i'm sure i don't have to tell you what happened next.

it was a sad day and it marked me for life.

happy thanksgiving.

La Yen said...

I don't think I was ever anything. But I was Cinderella in the 3rd grade play because I could read the best.

And all I can think about was that amazing Thanksgiving pageant from The Addams Family.

La Yen said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
La Yen said...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ptLD0kCoHG4

b. said...

You just brought back a flood of memories...I was an Indian too.
Dark hair/Dark Eyes/Olive skin

Sometimes I still wish I could be blonde, I suppose I could. But I like my dark.

Did you know all three of my kids are part Native American?

Kalli said...

HAHAHAH Yen, perfect.

I'm about as cracker as they come, but boy howdy did I like the brown skinned boys. Of the pineapple persuasion particularly. Also, I always wanted a lot of vowels in my name.

Too bad I married a Czech guy.

Shar said...

Since we practically live on the rez... or close to it, I was informed that sitting on the ground is not called Indian style, it's called criss cross. Dumb.

I was probably a pilgrim because I'm albino. But I probably wanted to be an Indian. My husband looks like an Indian. My kids are albino.

I took a percocet tonight and that probably just made no sense.

gurrbonzo said...

BAHA! "I'm a turkey! Eat me!"

I was never anything. But, one of my Navajo friends loves to share the following joke that I suspect applies here:

What do you get when you put 100 white people in a room?
One Cherokee.

get it? get it? Bc everyone says they're part Cherokee...

Whatever.

lisa said...

I was always in the chorus...my sister was a stick of butter once though.

Sister Pottymouth said...

I remember making the grocery bag vest and the headband with the construction paper feathers. I remember thinking it was awesome to be one of the Indians. (And I was even blonder then.)

Evie B. said...

We made grocery bag vests at our neighborhood preschool this past week and it was a total hit. I think everyone likes playing the indian.

I, however, was like you. The long dark hair, the dark skin...instant indian every time. Now that I'm older, though, I realize how much cooler that really was.

Carina said...

I remember there being pilgrims and Indians, and I remember the Thanksgiving meal too. I don't remember if I was a pilgrim or an Indian. E.G. was an Indian this year (a classmate of his has a father who is Native American and he came in, did a dance for them, and told them all kinds of "really cool things!" so I think E.G. was thrilled to be an Indian.)

I DO remember the 1st Grade Circus where I was the Seal Trainer and got to wear a pink leotard and tutu.