We received almost 40 submissions to the (Re)Writing Thanksgiving competition and today we’re thrilled to share with you the first prize winner! This essay from Peter C. Hutchinson can hold its own against the Journal’s annual editorial. I hope you’ll click over to read the whole thing, but I’ll drop in my favorite paragraph here: 

“As it’s turned out, [Thanksgiving] has become less and less about thankfulness to God, but instead a day of family gathering and indulgence and football as much as anything. And, truth is, there’s nothing wrong with those things. But maybe it would be good and appropriate if the day is marked by thankfulness for the indigenous peoples who, we could say, served the Lord’s purposes when they served the food to the strangers that first day. And maybe it would be even better if we held to and reflected on, with some “humble penitence” the national harm that was soon after inflicted on the natives. Even better, let us begin to think about ways to make amends for those wrongs that we perpetrated on those peoples ever since.”

Click here to read the whole thing. 

One more quick note: I’m sure we are going to receive questions as to why we did not select an indigenous person as the first place winner. As a Native American myself, I think it’s crucial that we create space for indigenous voices, especially when it comes to Thanksgiving. But I think anyone, no matter who they are, can be a leader and a contributor in the movement for a more just and equitable world. Peter’s essay was by far the strongest submission we received, and I’m so happy to share it with you. 

Stay tuned for the runners up!

Randy