In the meantime, have a safe and exciting New Year’s Eve and I wish for you all a 2010 filled with love, joy and fairydust!

- 2 parts Sprite (or whatever lemon-lime soda you like)
- 1 part cranberry juice (or cranberry juice cocktail if you prefer less tart)
- as much vodka as you like. (You can also leave the vodka out if you prefer to remain sober so as to act right in public.

Stir it up, serve over ice and YUM!

* I would like to take full credit for this but my friend CBQ gave me the nonalcoholic version and YUM. The vodka is all mine.

* Also, I drink this whenev. I don’t necessarily wait for Christmas. Tuesday afternoon will do. Though, then I generally leave out the liquor.

I am half Native American. Well, I’m Potowatomi and the preferred word is “Anishinaabe” which means Original People. (Pronounced Uh-nish-ih-nah-bay) When I lived on the Ojibwe reservation (or to be exactly accurate, just this side of the border to it), I heard a lot of the Ojibwe call themselves Indians. I have always used Indian because Native American seemed wrong.

I am Anishinaabe only by blood and not by culture or tradition. I was raised by my white mother and didn’t meet my birth father until I was 37. He is also not a traditional Indian. He assimilates. His (other) children consider themselves white and, for the most part, so does he.

At the same time, I was always aware of my difference growing up. I wanted to know more, but what we learned in school was revisionist and I was smart enough to know *that* even in elementary school. Being white, my mother never once thought about the fact that I had no racial identity. White people rarely have to consider their race and certainly not on a daily or even semi-regular basis.

I think I’ve written before that I grew up in a neighborhood that was predominantly black. So, I knew I wasn’t really white (by blood) and I know that I wasn’t really Indian (by culture). My parents didn’t actively discourage any Indian stuff but where was I going to get it? When I was 8 or so, I decided that if those things were true (not really white, not really Indian) then I’d just be black. I was sort of bitter to find out that race wasn’t really mutable and I’d have to be what I was: mixed race.

I was aware enough of Indian culture that Thanksgiving presented sort of a dilemma for me. On one hand, my family is Southern so the food was awesome! On the other hand, that welcoming of the Pilgrims was the beginning of the end for the traditional native way of life. While that wasn’t the actual beginning of what was to come, if those Indians had left the settlers to die, things may have been different. Oh, I suspect colonization was inevitable but it irks me that their kindness was ignored. Godless heathens, savages, etc but without those Indians teaching the Pilgrims to survive, more of them would have died.

When I say that school curriculums are revisionist, I mean that, among other things, they do not portray the nature of the natives. The Pilgrims were hypocrites. They came here to avoid religious persecution yet did the same thing to others the first chance they got. Religious and cultural persecution, I suppose. People think the Indians were so stupid. For example, selling the land for such cheap prices. The Indians didn’t believe a person could own land any more than they could own air. They thought white people were crazy. Own the land? Little did they know that if the settlers could have figured out a way to own the freaking air, they would have.

Whenever people talk about how violent we are as a society and act astounded by it, I ask this: “What do you expect from a country that was founded on genocide and built on slavery?” Makes me a popular addition to that conversation, as I’m sure you can imagine.

When The Ex and I were together, we talked about this. Because despite all of this, Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday. She asked me how it could be, given all that I’ve just written.

My answer is this:

For better or worse, I am a mixed race woman. I cannot, and will not, ignore all the things I’ve told you in this post. At the same time, I cannot and will not ignore the fact that I am half white. Hell, my mom’s family is mostly Scottish and Highlanders at that, so they share some similarities with the natives here.

I’ve decided that, for me, Thanksgiving is about giving thanks for what I’ve been blessed with, for my family, my friends, the people who love me. On a lighter note, it’s all about food! And I don’t have to figure out what gifts to give someone.

There are two reasons why I might want to buy a house: 1) to have the kitchen exactly the way I want it and 2) to have a dining room big enough to have my entire family at my house for Thanksgiving so I can do it properly. I daydream about it sometimes. Cause, yeah, I’m like that.

I am not ignoring the history of the Anishinaabe. We taught the boys about our history. In most ways I am not culturally Anishinaabe, but in one way I am. In my prayers, I give thanks for all “the grandfathers and grandmothers” (as ancestors are called). I also tell people things they didn’t know and, maybe don’t want to hear. Like treaty violations were so common. That the government snatching Anishinaabe children and putting them in boarding schools to beat the Indian out of them isn’t ancient history. It happened to The Ex’s *mother.* In the 1940s. It’s NOT ancient history.

At the same time, we canNOT wallow in the past. It happened, we can’t undo it. Let’s not forget it or whitewash it (pun intended) but we can’t get mired in it. Perhaps if I weren’t mixed race and if I lived on the rez, I’d be more inclined to not celebrate Thanksgiving. But I am and I don’t.

So tomorrow I’ll be going to my stepbrothers to eat a great dinner and hang out with my family, some of whom I only see at holidays. I hope yours is lovely and filled with love, friends, family and, above all, excellent food!

First of all, “basket” is a loose term. It can be a regular basket, for sure. It could also be a bucket or a glass jar or whatever your honey would love. Then, what on Earth to put in it?For a nod to the traditional, I highly recommend a Godiva chocolate bunny and Peeps. Whatever you do, unless your sweetie loves ‘em, do NOT get one of those hollow-waxy-cheap bunnies. :shudders: I am a huge fan of Peeps, so those would be an absolute must for anyone making me a basket, but your girl might not like them. If that’s the case, leave them out. However, you might want to consider the wisdom of dating someone who doesn’t like Peeps. Just sayin’. Other candy options are personalized M & Ms (which are expensive but kinda cool) and Jelly Bellys or whatever candy your partner likes.

Don’t limit yourself to just candy, though. There are all kinds of things you could put in a basket. Any personalized thing would be cool. There are tons of websites out there that personalize stuff and you probably have time to get whatever you want if you get right on it. If not, there are stores in most cities that sell personalized things. Things Remembered, is one example. You could have a picture framed of the two of you together, you could give her a cool coffee cup with great coffee or hot cocoa. You could give her an “adult toy.” (an aside: go to amazon.com and search for adult toy. Go through a few pages – the weirdest things come up.) You could give her a video (like The Crash Pad, which I reviewed a while back.You could make a “theme” basket. Let’s say your sugar is obsessed with her car. You could make her a car basket. You might include Armor All Wipes, a gift certificate for detailing, microfiber cloths, Car “Shampoo”, vinyl & rubber protectant, or other car care things. You could also make little certificates good for various lewd activities *in* the car. Assuming that the potential for body fluid spillage wouldn’t freak her out.

You could give her an MP3 player already loaded with a bunch of her favorite songs and a playlist of songs that make you think of her. You could include a car adapter so she could listen to it in the car. Maybe get crazy and add some speakers so she could listen to it at home, too.

The possibilities for theme baskets are endless. You could make a book basket for a reader, a quilting basket for a quilter, softball stuff for an athlete, bath & beauty stuff for the glamor girl in your life, art supplies for an artist or crafter. They don’t have to be expensive, just thoughtful. The Dollar Store and Oriental Trading Post are great places for inexpensive things that you could use.
Do you make your partner an Easter basket? What goes in it? What’s the best one you’ve gotten? Leave a comment and let us know!