Education is among the most important fields in the entire United States, but while its influence on society is a great gift, the silence of American schools on the subject of Thanksgiving’s dark history during the month of November is also a detriment. 

It is not fair to say that there is a lack of education, but rather a lack of truth on this subject. From an early age, children in the US are told of a harmonious and fair “First Thanksgiving” while being spared the deceit of the European colonizers. 

By the time a student reaches high school, it is the responsibility of the student to accept the truth available to them in this age of easily accessed and easily researchable information. However, it cannot be denied that far too many are set out early on a path of misinformation that grows into ignorance.

Camas High School US history teacher said, “some people just want to talk about the good and not the bad.”

Camas, admittedly, is ahead of the curve in comparison to some other parts of the country and it seems as though students are not completely ignorant to the truth. 

“No one has argued with me about the events when I teach it,”  Williams said. 

The Camas School District is among the best public education in the state, and this is apparent as luckily, it is not common that the district’s students are deceived early in their development. 

While the general opinion in Camas is not one of denial, it cannot be ignored that historically speaking, many educators have danced around the truth in a broader sense. 

“I’m sure if you look at most of the images shown [of the first thanksgiving] there’s no Native Americans at the table,” Williams said. 

Camas schools do teach the events that transpired, but what they do not teach is the severity. 

Sophomore Jak Schiller said, “they kinda just glorify what the colonizers did.”

There are multiple speculations as to why the education system has seemed to protect the legacy of these colonizers, but it’s possible that a lack of diversity has a part to play, especially in a district as uniform as Camas in its staff.  

“People who haven’t experienced or learned discrimination…of course they’re going to do and teach wrong things,” said sophomore Greta Brown. 

It is unfair to expect impartial education from a system historically built only by the same group who received the benefit from sinister events. 

But as it turns out, unbiased and truthful education is slowly but surely returning to schools. 

“People are definitely more aware… there’s a huge effort in the whole country to try to show more people’s views, more opinions, more of the bad while still showing the good,”  Williams said. 

All that can be done at the moment is acknowledge the past history of the United States and move forward with a nationwide effort to improve education and awareness.