Thanksgiving, a holiday romanticized as a celebration of unity and gratitude, has long masked the brutal histories of dispossession, genocide, and the systemic erasure of Indigenous cultures in the US. Far from a benign gathering, the roots of this holiday are inextricably tied to colonial expansion and the violent suppression of Indigenous peoples. The narrative glorifies settler perseverance each year while erasing the foundational theft and bloodshed that enabled such "prosperity." To critically deconstruct this week’s festivity of denial is to dismantle the myths of "discovery" and "civilization" imposed by colonialism and recognize the resilience of those who continue to resist the violence of this narrative.
Since October 7, 2023, millions have gained a clearer insight into the interconnections of colonialism, ethnic cleansing and capitalist expansion in warfare, despite the algorithmic suppression of dissenting voices. A viral moment featuring Hana-Rawhiti Maipi-Clarke, the young Te Pāti Māori MP, tearing a proposed bill undermining Aotearoa New Zealand's foundational treaty, Te Tiriti o Waitangi, before leading a Haka in Parliament, resonated globally. This act underscored the power of collective expression as a rejection of exploitative systems.
Inspired by global solidarity with Palestinians and Indigenous struggles, Progressive International’s Arts and Culture Coordinator, Ché Zara Blomfield, has initiated a series of artworks addressing the ties between imperialism and ecological devastation. These efforts mirror the growing recognition of art as a tool for cultural resistance and material reclamation. One of the first artworks to be showcased is the one of Maidu 2 Spirit artist Tyler Eash, who has a path of practices illuminated by the will to weave suppressed histories into defiant narratives of survival and resurgence.
Eash, born in unceded Nisenan Maidu territory in northern California, has developed a multidisciplinary practice reflecting Maidu philosophies while navigating the erasure of Indigenous identities. Their work reclaims Maidu existence from the reductive gaze that frames Indigenous peoples as mere relics of the past, demonstrating instead the vibrancy of cultural survival amidst ongoing violence. Through dance, painting, sculpture, and poetry, Eash counters the colonial framework that renders Indigenous experiences "past tense," reclaiming their existence as a revolutionary act.
Raised in what they call "subaltern rural poverty," Eash's trajectory includes navigating systemic racism, economic precarity, and cultural alienation. Despite being pressured into assimilation and commodification, they leveraged their privilege in urban design to expose the hypocrisy of colonial projects while fostering a contemporary art practice to process these traumas. This journey—from designing colonial urban paradises to critiquing settler logic through art—represents the dual perspective of the colonized and the colonizer.
Eash’s exhibitions, such as Loreum and All the World’s Horses, juxtapose Indigenous materials with Anglo-colonial detritus, creating works that both challenge and reclaim cultural narratives. Their performance Ínyanam, a modern interpretation of the Ghost Dance, embodies resistance against systemic violence, evoking ancestral resilience. The performance foregrounds the genocidal policies that aimed to annihilate Indigenous Californians—policies whose brutal legacy persists in the socioeconomic marginalization of their descendants.
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Through works like Flag for Dying Languages and Field / Koyóm, Eash critiques capitalist commodification while envisioning futures rooted in cultural autonomy and land reclamation. Their photography, such as After Ceremony for Fallen Sister, also confronts the silence surrounding the Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women (MMIW) crisis, amplifying the voices of those erased from mainstream narratives.
Eash’s advocacy extends beyond art, addressing institutional systems of violence. They have pushed for the rematriation of sacred sites and land, including efforts to rename Sutter Buttes, a mountain still commemorating a colonial enslaver. Such actions challenge historical amnesia, reminding us that colonialism is not a relic of the past but an active, oppressive force.
In 2024, amidst a wave of global reckonings, the U.S. government issued an unprecedented apology for the forced assimilation of Indigenous children in boarding schools. Yet, this acknowledgment remains insufficient, as it sidesteps the recognition of genocide—a term that lays bare the intentional destruction wrought by settler colonialism. Eash's work continues to underscore these systemic injustices, linking Indigenous struggles in California to broader global movements against dispossession and cultural erasure.
It not only lacks adequate acknowledgment, apology, and reparations, but the history itself has been obscured: “Descendants are tasked with telling a story that many powerful people tried to erase, and it's a story that repeats itself, so we are dangerous to a system of genocide.” With the international art world as a platform, Eash aims to disclose an invisibilized past and support survivors in their right to reparations and land reclamations. For example, Eash has pledged to donate proceeds from the sale of After Ceremony for Fallen Sister to the American Indian Education Program in Marysville, California.
Eash’s leadership has fostered collective resistance through initiatives like the Living Land Collective, bringing together Indigenous and diasporic artists to confront classist and racist exclusions within the art world. Their forthcoming collaboration with Progressive International will further this mission, transforming symbols of colonial control into emblems of Indigenous solidarity. As narratives of resilience take center stage, Eash’s work reminds us that the fight for Indigenous survival is inseparable from the broader struggle against capitalism, ecological collapse, and imperial violence.
This month, Progressive International will launch a limited-edition artwork by Eash inspired by the geometric form of stacked security barricades, which resemble a Maidu basket pattern called Flying Geese. Of the work, Eash said they “wanted to transform a colonial object of control and authority into an Indigenous symbol of freedom and solidarity.” Thanksgiving reimagined, is not a celebration of colonial myths but an invitation to confront these histories and align with movements for justice and liberation worldwide.
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Visit Progressive International for more information.
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- Footnotes
Cover: Tyler Eash, All the Worlds Horses, installation view
Fig.1 Tyler Eash, Flag for Dying Languages, 2023
Fig.2 Tyler Eash, Flying Geese, a numbered limited edition of 150, printed on premium luster photo paper, 41x51 cm
