Native Americans and the Thanksgiving Holiday

Thanksgiving celebrations vary widely among Native Americans

November 27, 2025

While most Americans celebrate Thanksgiving, most Native American tribes handle the national holiday differently. Many replace Thanksgiving with cultural gatherings that honor their history, their resilience, their families and communities. Others observe Thanksgiving as a Day of Mourning to remember the painful past.

Here are some of the tribal Thanksgiving Day traditions reported by a variety of media sources:

Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe (Massachusetts)
The Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe hosts an annual Native American Thanksgiving service and luncheon at the Old Indian Meeting House in Mashpee, MA. The events honor the tribe's culture, spirituality, and resilience as well as its new and elder members.

Read the full story, "Wampanoag Tribe will celebrate culture and resilience on Saturday" at Cape Cod Times.

Poarch Creek Indians (Alabama)
Poarch Creek Indians hold a two-day Annual Pow Wow starting on each Thanksgiving Day. The public events represent a homecoming and a cultural celebration for tribal members and highlights colorful regalia, intertribal dance competitions, and traditional foods.

Read the full story "Poarch Creek Indians celebrating Thanksgiving with the 53rd Annual Pow Wow" at WKRG.

Haudenosaunee (Iroquois Confederacy, New York)
Tribal members recite the Thanksgiving Address, to express gratitude to the natural world consisting of the People, the Earth Mother, the Waters, the Fish, and the Plants.

Read the full story "Rethinking Thanksgiving Celebrations: Native Perspectives on Thanksgiving" at the Smithsonian.

United American Indians of New England
These Native Americans hold a National Day of Mourning at Plymouth Rock to protest Thanksgiving and to honor their Native ancestors and reflect on the continuing struggles of their people.

Read the full story "The History of Thanksgiving from the Native American Perspective" at Native Hope.

Navajo
Many Navajo families gather to give thanks on this holiday. However, Navajo tradition teaches that Thanksgiving must be a daily practice.

Read the full story "Navajo Thanksgiving Traditions" at KUNM.

California Tribes
California is home to 800,000+ Native Americans, the largest population in the nation.

Many families of the Southern California tribes (Cahuilla, Kumeyaay, Luiseio) gather for meals, but tribal leaders teach Thanksgiving preceded colonization and tribal resilience.

Read the full story "Reframing Thanksgiving: Native Perspectives on Tradition, History, and Healing" at California CASA.

For generations the Cahuilla have prioritized the important needs for survival, like food and housing, the celebration ofr traditional holidays. Thanksgiving brings discussions about history and culture.

Read the full story "Still struggling with truth': Southern California tribal members reflect on Thanksgiving's complicated legacy" at Desert Sumn.

In Northern California, the Yurok and neighboring tribes have changed Thanksgiving to represent food sovereignty and traditional gathering of salmon, acorns, and berries.

Read the full story "Reframing Thanksgiving: Native Perspectives on Tradition, History, and Healing" at California CASA.

In the large cities of Los Angeles and the Bay Area, Native Americans focus on community events like powwows while emphasizing the regrettable history that followed Thanksgiving.

Read the full story "Reframing Thanksgiving: Native Perspectives on Tradition, History, and Healing" at California CASA.

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