So Thanksgiving is this week! The approaching five day weekend has everyone scrambling to figure out their big plans. This year I am heading out to California with a few friends for a homestyle family dinner with little kids running around, eating pumpkin and cranberry everything, and then falling asleep by 6 pm. 

 Last year I was living in Kino Bay during the fall, and we all wondered what Thanksgiving would be like in our little group in a foreign country. Throughout the semester we all contacted our friends and family inviting them down to the field station, and sure enough the confirmations rolled in. Two days before Thanksgiving we held a group meeting, now consisting of about 30 people, and created a giant list of groceries, decorating tasks, and food dishes. In total we had 4 turkeys and 2 tofurkeys. The day of Thanksgiving we all went swimming and played beach volleyball until the sun went down. And the sunset was, as usual, epic.

Many students stay in Prescott for Thanksgiving and prepare feasts using local produce from surrounding farms. It is truly apparent during these holidays that the friends we have made are also our family.

This year there are also students that are heading up to the Black Mesa reservation. Visits to the reservation usually last for more than just a weekend, but Thanksgiving is special opportunity to help support indigenous resistance to coal-mining, as well as to help harvest fall’s final crops. The idea of going to Black Mesa during Thanksgiving is to view the history of our holidays through a new lens and attempt to decolonize them.

                                                               Happy Thanksgiving!