The Phenomenology of Thanks-Killing: Deconstructing Historical Consciousness and African Identity in Early America

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The narrative of early American history, particularly surrounding the mythologized “First Thanksgiving,” represents a critical site for examining the phenomenology of African and Indigenous lived experiences. Through careful analysis of historical documentation and oral traditions, we can deconstruct how European colonization enacted both physical and epistemological violence against Black bodies and consciousness. This examination reveals how the celebration known as “Thanksgiving” served as a ritual of domination and erasure, marking successful massacres of Black Indigenous peoples with feasts of “thanksgiving.”

Theoretical Framework: Embodied Historical Consciousness

Drawing on Frantz Fanon’s analysis of the colonized psyche and Lewis Gordon’s work on bad faith, we must understand how historical consciousness shapes contemporary African American identity. The revelation that many Indigenous peoples were phenotypically African, practicing agricultural traditions aligned with African civilizational patterns, disrupts the dominant historical narrative that begins African presence in the Americas with the transatlantic slave trade of 1619.

This understanding requires what Sylvia Wynter terms a “demolition of our present knowledge system” – specifically, the dismantling of racialized categories that separate “African” from “Indigenous” identity. The evidence suggests a complex presence of African peoples in pre-colonial Americas, practicing advanced agricultural techniques, including cultivating the “Three Sisters” (corn, beans, and squash) that would become fundamental to colonial survival.

The Phenomenology of Violence and Gift-Giving

Colonial violence operated through both direct physical force and insidious “gifts” – most notably blankets infected with smallpox. This practice of deadly gift-giving represents what Fanon might term the “masked violence” of colonialism, where the appearance of benevolence conceals genocidal intent. The psychological impact of such betrayal such as the Trinity of Trauma, created what contemporary theorists would recognize as intergenerational trauma, manifesting in what Lewis Gordon terms “epistemological closure” – the foreclosure of certain forms of knowledge and being.

The colonial practice of celebrating massacres with “thanksgiving” feasts represents a phenomenological inversion – transforming acts of genocide into occasions for gratitude and celebration. This perversion of consciousness continues to shape contemporary American identity and ritual practices.

Tribal Consciousness and the Politics of Recognition

The historical record reveals how European colonizers exploited existing tribal identities to create divisions among Black Indigenous peoples. This strategy of “divide and conquer” operated not merely at the level of physical warfare but in the realm of consciousness and identity. Those who maintained stronger tribal identifications often failed to recognize their fundamental unity with other African-descended peoples, leading to what we might term, following Gordon, a “failed reciprocity of recognition.”

This dynamic continues to manifest in contemporary African American consciousness through what some scholars term “tribal thinking” – the prioritization of smaller group identities over broader racial/cultural solidarity. The historical evidence of Black Indigenous peoples fighting each other for European favor provides a crucial lens for understanding contemporary intra-community conflicts.

The Phenomenology of Resistance and Marronage

Despite the overwhelming violence of colonization, Black Indigenous peoples demonstrated remarkable resistance through various forms of marronage – the establishment of independent communities in swamps and other challenging terrain. These maroon communities represent what Sylvia Wynter might term “counterpoetics” – alternative ways of being human that resist colonial categorization and control.

The historical record documents 250 major revolts against white supremacy, far more than the commonly cited few examples like Nat Turner’s rebellion. This resistance tradition demonstrates what Fanon terms “combat breathing” – the perpetual struggle to maintain existence and dignity under conditions of colonial oppression.

Gender Dynamics in Resistance and Memory

The role of Black women in both resistance and preservation of historical memory requires special attention. While colonial violence often separated families by selling men to distant locations, women maintained both family connections and historical consciousness through oral traditions. This gendered dimension of historical preservation aligns with what Patricia Hill Collins terms “Black feminist epistemology” – ways of knowing that center Black women’s experiences and wisdom.

Contemporary Implications: Epigenetic and Epistemological

Modern science confirms what African wisdom traditions have long understood – trauma passes through generations not just through stories but through biological mechanisms. The concept of epigenetic inheritance provides scientific validation for what Fanon termed the “corporeal schema” – the way historical violence becomes encoded in the very bodies of the oppressed.

This biological dimension intersects with what Gordon terms “epistemological violence” – the way dominant historical narratives continue to suppress knowledge of African presence and agency in early America. The revelation that many diseases commonly attributed to genetic factors (like hypertension) may actually represent epigenetic inheritance from historical trauma demands a fundamental reconceptualization of African American health disparities.

Conclusion: Toward a New Historical Consciousness

Understanding the true history of “Thanksgiving” as “Thanks-killing” requires what Wynter terms a “recursive” approach to knowledge—one that continually returns to examine assumed truths through new lenses. This examination reveals not just historical facts but also the way historical consciousness shapes contemporary being-in-the-world for African-descended peoples.

The path forward requires what Gordon terms “teleological suspension” – the ability to hold multiple historical truths simultaneously while working toward new forms of consciousness. This includes recognizing both African ancestry and Indigenous heritage, understanding how colonial violence sought to separate these identities, and reconstructing ways of being that honor both traditions.

This work of historical reconstruction serves not merely academic interests but provides essential tools for contemporary liberation. By understanding how colonial violence operated at both physical and consciousness levels, we can better resist its contemporary manifestations and work toward what Fanon termed “new forms of humanity.”

The transformation of “Thanksgiving” into “Thanks-killing” in our historical consciousness represents a semantic shift and a fundamental reorientation toward historical truth and contemporary identity. This reorientation demands both courage to face difficult truths and wisdom to use these truths in service of healing and liberation.

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