Mountain Views News, Combined Edition Saturday, November 23, 2019

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Mountain Views-News Saturday, November 23, 2019 

CAT OF THE WEEK


LALA, LUCIE, & 
LENNY

These 3 are only 3 months 
old and super cute! The 2 
girls are snuggly & sweet 
tuxedos, while brother 
Lenny, a tabby, is still a 
little shy but warms up 
once he’s in your arms 
like a little “purrito.” They 
will come current on their vaccines, chipped, spayed & neutered. Adopt a single or a pair. See 
our website to read about our adoption information and see our adoption application. Thank 
you.See their video and more pix at www.lifelineforpets.org, Young Cats page. Contact us at 
626-676-9505 or info@lifelineforpets.org.

Pet of the Week

 
Roy is such a smart dog! This six-year-old pup has his 
Blue Ribbon, which means he knows sit, down, and 
stay. He also knows shake (with both paws! Wow!). 
His favorite game is called Endless Fetch, and he’ll play 
it for as long as you’re able to throw. And even when 
he’s playing Endless Fetch, he knows even MORE cues, 
such as “drop it” and “wait”. He’s been described as a 
“delightful dog” by our volunteers. If a smart dog who 
loves learning new things is exactly what you’re looking 
for, then come meet Roy!

 The adoption fee for dogs is $140. All dogs are spayed or neutered, microchipped, and 
vaccinated before going to their new home. 

 New adopters will receive a complimentary health-and-wellness exam from VCA 
Animal Hospitals, as well as a goody bag filled with information about how to care for 
your pet.

 View photos of adoptable pets at pasadenahumane.org. Adoption hours are 11 a.m. to 
4 p.m. Sunday; 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesday through Friday; and 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday.

 Pets may not be available for adoption and cannot be held for potential adopters by 
phone calls or email.

LOOKING FOR A 
BEST FRIEND?


Tender is a handsome 8-year-old terrier boy who can 
be a little reserved when first meeting new people, but 
if given the time to relax at his own pace, he seems to 
like it. He has a calm and easy-going personality. He 
enjoys going for walks, and especially likes to roll on 
his back on the grass while getting a belly rub. He has 
been polite meeting other dogs as well. We believe he 
is house trained. Tender is a good boy who deserves to 
have a loving home and family to care for him, and is 
sure to return that love many times over. Come and 
meet him soon to give him a fresh start on a new life. 
His adoption fee is $135, which includes neuter surgery, 
microchip, first vaccinations and a free wellness check-
up at a participating veterinarian.


ON THANKSGIVING

CHRISTOPHER Nyerges


[Nyerges is the author of “How 
to Survive Anywhere,” “Foraging 
California,” “Enter the Forest” 
and other books. He leads 
courses in the native uses of 
plants. He can be reached at 
Box 41834, Eagle Rock, CA 
90041, or www.SchoolofSelf-
Reliance..com]

 I was at a local coffee shop and met a man who 
had read something I previously wrote about the 
histor-ical origins of Thanksgiving, and what happened, 
and what didn’t happen.

 “I was a little puzzled after I read it,” Burt told me. 
“I understand that the first historical Thanksgiving 
may have not happened the way we are told 
as children,” he told me, “but how did we get to 
where we are to-day? What I understood from 
your writing that there are historical roots, and 
that we today remember those roots and try to be 
very thankful, but the connection was unclear.” 
Burt and I then had a very long conversation.

 A newspaper column is typically not long enough 
to provide the “big picture” of the entire foundation 
of such a commemoration, as well as all the 
twists and turns that have occurred along the way. 
But here is the condensed version of what I told 
my new friend Burt.

 First, try reading any of the many books that are 
available that describe the first so-called “first 
Thanks-giving” at the Plymouth colony that at 
least attempts to also show the Indigenous perspective. 
You will quickly see that this was not 
simply the European pilgrims and the native people 
sitting down to a great meal and giving thanks 
to their respective Gods, though that might have 
occurred. In fact, both the in-digenous peoples 
and the newcomers had thanksgiving days on a 
pretty regular basis.

 As you take the time to explore the motives of the 
many key players of our so-called “first Thanksgiv-
ing,” in the context of that time, you will see 
that though the Europeans were now increasingly 
flowing into the eastern seaboard, their long-
term presence had not been allowed – until this 
point. Massasoit was the political-military leader 
of the Wampanoag confederation, which was the 
stronger native group in the area. However, after 
disease had wiped out many of the native people, 
Massasoit was worried about the neighboring 
long-time enemies – the Narragansett -- to the 
west. The gathering of the European lead-ers of 
the Plimouth Colony and Massasoit and entourage 
had been more-or-less brokered by Tisquantum 
(aka Squanto) who spoke English. 

 Yes, there had been much interaction between 
the new colonists and native people for some 
time, and this gathering of 3 days in 1621 was 
intended to seal the deal between the colonists 
aligning with Massa-soit. The exact date is unknown, 
but it was sometime between September 
21 and November 9.

 Yes, historians say that a grand meal followed, including 
mostly meat. The colony remained and 
there was relative peace for the next 10 to 50 years, 
depending on which historians were correct in 
their reading of the meager notes. The historical 
record indicates that the new colonists learned 
how to hunt, forage, practice medicine, make canoes 
and moccasins, and much more, from the 
indigenous people. Even Tisquantum taught the 
colonists how to farm using fish scraps, ironically, 
a bit of farming detail he picked up during his few 
years in Europe.

 Politicians and religious leaders continued to 
practice the giving of thanks, in their churches 
and in their communities, and that is a good 
thing. They would hearken back to what gradually 
became known as the “first Thanksgiving” 
in order to give thanks for all the bounty they 
found and created in this new world, always giving 
thanks to God! But clearly, the indigenous 
people would have a very different view of the 
consequences of this 1621 pact, which gradually 
and inevitably meant the loss of their lands 
and further decimation of their peoples from 
disease. Of course, there was not yet a “United 
States of America,” and it was with a bit of nostalgia 
and selective memory that we refer to this 
semi-obscure gathering of two peoples as some 
sort of foundational event in the development of 
the United States. And it is un-derstandable from 
the perspective of a national mythology that the 
native people were forgotten and the “gifts from 
God” remembered. 

 My new friend Burt was nodding his head, beginning 
to see that there was much under the surface 
of this holiday. I recommended that he read such 
books as “1491: New Revelations of the Americas 
Before Columbus” by Mann, “Native American 
History: Idiot’s Guide” by Fleming, and others.

 As I still believe, giving thanks is a good thing – 
good for the soul and good for the society. Just be 
sure to always give thanks where it is due!

 Eventually, in the centuries that followed, Thanksgiving 
was celebrated on various days in various 
plac-es. George Washington declared it an official 
Thanksgiving in 1789. However, the day did not 
become standardized as the final Thursday each 
November until 1863 with a proclamation by 
Abraham Lincoln.

 The gross commercialization of Thanksgiving is 
a somewhat recent manifestation of the way in 
which we have tried to extract money from just 
about anything. One way to break that cycle is to 
just choose to do something different.

 When I used to visit my parents’ home for annual 
Thanksgiving gatherings, I disliked the loud arguing 
and banter, the loud TV in the background, 
and the way everyone (including me) ate so much 
that we had stomach aches! I felt that Thanksgiving 
should be about something more than all that. 
I changed that by simply no longer attending, and 
then visiting my parents the following day with a 
quiet meal. It took my parents a few years to get 
used to my changes, but eventually they did.

 These days, most holidays have a whole host of 
diverse symbols, and Thanksgiving is no differ-
ent. And like most modern holidays, their real 
meanings are now nearly-hopelessly obscured 
by the massive commercialism. Nevertheless, 
despite the tide that is against us, we can always 
choose to do something different. Holidays are 
our holy days where we ought to take the time to 
reflect upon the deeper meanings. By so doing, 
we are not necessarily “saving” the holiday, but 
we are saving our-selves. As we work to discover 
the original history and meanings of each holiday, 
we wake up our minds and discover a neglected 
world hidden in plain sight.


Mountain Views News 80 W Sierra Madre Blvd. No. 327 Sierra Madre, Ca. 91024 Office: 626.355.2737 Fax: 626.609.3285 Email: editor@mtnviewsnews.com Website: www.mtnviewsnews.com