A California social media influencer known online as the “Gluten Free Girlfriend” has found herself the subject of widespread ridicule after sharing her idea for a “decolonized Christmas” on TikTok.
Elise Bonilla-Myers recorded herself sharing holiday recipes and shopping tips that, in her opinion, put native cultures and women at the forefront.
Her approach was criticized almost instantly, with netizens pointing out not only that Christmas predates colonial settlement in the Americas, but that the tradition has developed over centuries, incorporating countless cultural elements and food ingredients along the way.
An influencer was blasted online after she tried framing Christmas as a holiday that should be “decolonized”
Image credits: glutenfreegf_
Elise began by introducing what she described as “the perfect Christmas cookie.”
“The perfect Christmas cookie is griddle masa made from a form of corn flour mixed with lime or culinary ash,” she said, explaining that the process makes the nutrients “more bioavailable and it becomes more tender.”
Image credits: picjumbo.com/Pexels (Not the actual photo)
She added that the rounded dough was sweetened with honey before being grilled until brown and finished with an agave glaze.
Her tips centered on ingredients like corn, which she said were native to the Americas, and avoided wheat, barley and rye, crops she usually doesn’t use due to the gluten-free nature of her channel.
Except this time, she specifically avoided using them due to their Eurasian origin.
The influencer advocated for consuming food made only with American ingredients and buying from “native” businesses
Image credits: glutenfree_girlfriend_
Not content with food, the influencer also said that “decolonizing Christmas” extended beyond food and into how she approached gift-giving this year.
She explained that every present on her list would come from what she described as “native owned” businesses.
Image credits: glutenfree_girlfriend_
Among the shops she promoted were an “Indigenous, Hispanic and woman-owned tea business,” a Navajo purveyor specializing in traditional corn products, and a Snoqualmie tribe-based company offering goods sourced from the Pacific Northwest.
To further support her theme, Elise said she went shopping at a Los Angeles market operated by a local tribe.
The event featured more than 30 vendors selling artwork, crafts, wild rice, and other items tied to regional Indigenous traditions.
In her view, sourcing gifts this way was an essential part of keeping her holiday “aligned with Indigenous values” and moving away from what she called the “colonial consumerism” of typical Christmas shopping.
Viewers pushed back against her narrative, pointing to the Holiday’s origin as a multicultural tradition
Image credits: glutenfree_girlfriend_
Viewers, to put it mildly, were less than impressed.
“That one friend that’s too woke,” one user wrote. Another commenter labeled her the “performative final boss.”
The idea of Christmas being tied to colonization or indigenous cultural practices struck many as odd, given the holiday’s history. Christmas traditions have evolved over centuries, blending religious, cultural and secular customs from many parts of the world.
@glutenfree_girlfriend_ My local tribe hosted a native market this weekend with over 30 indigenous vendors. If you’re in LA and looking to shop native, the LA NDN Flea is happening December 13th at The Broad Museum and many of the same vendors will be there! I highly recommend shopping your local native vendors and looking into if you local tribe is hosting any similar markets. #shoplocal #nativemade #indigenous #decolonize ♬ Old Film – Kairo Vibe
“How are you going to ‘decolonize’ a religious holiday that has no relations to America or Indigenous people and colonization? genuinely asking out of curiosity,” a user asked.
Historically, the holiday dates back to Christian celebrations of Jesus’ birth established in the Roman Empire in the 4th century, where December 25 was adopted as the official date to coincide with earlier winter solstice festivals.
Over time, Christmas grew to include a variety of practices such as exchanging gifts, decorating trees, and sharing meals with family and friends, many of which have origins outside of Christianity itself and vary by culture and region.
In fact, the global variations in Christmas celebrations make the idea of “decolonizing” it even harder to define.
The holiday isn’t limited to Western traditions at all. Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox, Armenian, Ethiopian, Syriac and Coptic Christian communities all celebrate Christmas, incorporating their own foods and customs.
Christmas has evolved over time, incorporating ingredients and customs from many cultures as people migrated
Image credits: glutenfreegf_
Christmas, as it’s known today, is far from a single cultural construct. In many parts of the world, the holiday has become a multicultural tradition shaped by centuries of migration.
A report by National Geographic notes that everything from decorated trees and string lights to modern holiday markets can be traced back to German settlers who brought their practices with them as they moved across continents.
@glutenfree_girlfriend_ I’m decolonizing my christmas this year, in part by making holiday treats celebrating indigenous ingredients. These griddled masa cookies, which i adapted from a recipe from the cookbook “decolonize your diet” have no wheat flour and are instead a soft and tender masa cookie. They aren’t baked and instead are cooked on a griddle. They are absolutely delicious and a wonderful way to celebrate indigenous ingredients #christmascookies #indigenous #glutenfree #glutenfreecookies ♬ Main Title (From “Elf”) – Dominik Hauser
Seasonal foods evolved the same way, merging local ingredients with imported rituals until entirely new traditions emerged.
The result is a holiday defined less by its origin and more by the people who carried it with them, such as migrants looking for community and families preserving fragments of their homelands.
Christmas today reflects a tapestry of influences that stretch far beyond any single region, ethnicity or historical narrative, which is why many viewers criticized the idea of “decolonizing” it.
Some of the most delicious Christmas recipes are made using ingredients sourced from all over the world, native America included
Image credits: thehealthyhophead
Perhaps one of the clearest examples of Christmas being a multicultural holiday is pumpkin-spice sweetbread, a recipe made possible only because different cultures blended over centuries.
The pumpkin, a crop domesticated by Indigenous peoples in the Americas, forms the base of the dough.
The warming spices that define the “holiday” flavor, cinnamon from Sri Lanka, nutmeg from Indonesia, cloves from Zanzibar, arrived through global trade routes and European migration.
Wheat flour, brought to the Americas by settlers, ties it together, while maple syrup, harvested by Indigenous nations long before colonization, provides the sweetness.
“Ragebait.” Netizens argued about the video on social media
