Thanksgiving Program – A Gratitude Celebration

Please join us for a Thanksgiving Party hosted by the teachers and students of Essex Preschool.  Please RSVP to essexpreschool@gmail.com and include the number of guests attending.

This year, Essex Preschool will mark its annual Thanksgiving Festival with a thoughtful and significant change. As part of our ongoing commitment to creating a more inclusive and historically accurate educational environment, we are revising our Thanksgiving program to better honor the history and culture of the indigenous peoples who originally inhabited this land.

While we recognize the traditional narrative of the Pilgrims and the Native Peoples coming together to celebrate a harvest feast, we also acknowledge that this story is limited and, in many ways, historically inaccurate. It centers the experience of the white British settlers at the expense of the perspective of the indigenous tribes, specifically the Algonquin Nations, who once lived on the land we now call New England, but which they called Wabanahkik.

In light of this, Essex Preschool will begin our Thanksgiving celebration with a formal Land Acknowledgement, recognizing the sacred ground we occupy. Essex Preschool resides on land once sovereign to the Nehantic, Wangunks, and Hammonasset tribes. We also recognize that the arrival of European settlers led to the displacement and devastation of these indigenous communities, through both disease and violent conflicts over land.

As a learning institution, we are committed to honoring the rich history of the indigenous peoples who shaped this land long before colonial settlement. Our Thanksgiving program will reflect this, and we are also excited to introduce three key initiatives aimed at deepening our commitment to indigenous culture and history:

1. Thoughtful Thanksgiving Programming: This year’s program, which includes the experiences you’ll participate in today, seeks to give reverence to the indigenous peoples who lived here long before European settlers arrived.
2. The Essex Preschool Farm Project – Sibi Chi: Named after the Algonquin word for “river,” this multi-tiered project will provide locally grown, indigenous-inspired food for our students, as well as educational outreach to families about indigenous farming practices. We will also build an edible sensory garden on our playground, giving children a hands-on way to connect with the land and its history.
3. Collaboration with Local Indigenous Educators: To further ensure the preservation of indigenous traditions, Essex Preschool will work with indigenous educators to integrate their cultural practices into our curriculum. This will help foster a deeper understanding of the traditions, values, and experiences of Native peoples.

While we do not seek to erase the history of the Pilgrims or their journey to find refuge, we recognize the importance of moving forward with a more inclusive, historically accurate perspective.  As Maya Angelou once said, “When you know better, you do better.” Essex Preschool is dedicated to doing better—creating a Thanksgiving experience that honors both the history of settlers and the stories of the indigenous communities whose land we now occupy.

For more information about Essex Preschool’s Thanksgiving Festival or our ongoing commitment to indigenous education, please contact Dr. Donna Risolo, Director, Essex Preschool 

Contact:

Donna Risolo, EdD

Director 

Essex Preschool

203-241-6689

essexpreschool@gmail.com

https://essexpreschool.weebly.com