Thanksgiving

I went to a thanksgiving feast at Payton's school today. The entire class sang songs for the parents and while they performed they wore Indian vests (made out of paper bags) and feather head dresses. They were so cute but I just kept going back to the video we watched about Indian stereotypes and to our class discussion about Thanksgiving. It really started to bother me, I just can't understand why we dress like Indians at Thanksgiving but never bother to teach the kids that Indians really don't dress that way. We lead kids to believe that all Native Americans will be dressed in feathers at all times, which is offensive to Native Americans. Every year kids learn facts about Thanksgiving that are inaccurate but we let them go on for most of their lives thinking that the first Thanksgiving was as happy and peaceful as the feasts they have at school. I know we have already discussed this in class, but after visting Payton's school today, I just couldn't stop thinking about it. I feel as though our future teachers should consider a different approach to teaching kids about Thanksgiving. I have already started thinking of alternative ideas and lessons to incorporate into my classroom.
I hope all of you have a wonderful Thanksgiving!