Thanksgiving/ Giving Thanks - Democratic Underground

H2O Man

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Thu Nov-25-10 04:32 PM
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Thanksgiving/ Giving Thanks

Thanksgiving is a festival that agricultural people around the world have celebrated since the time of our ancestor's ancestors. In the United States, it is often considered in either the context of the Pilgrims, or the protests of what happened to Native Americans over the centuries. I think that those are aspects of what “thanksgiving” means, but not the whole concept.

I thought that readers might enjoy a version of the Haudenosaunee (or Six Nations Iroquois Confederacy) thanksgiving prayer is. There are a number of variations of this, although the all follow the same basic outline. I have had the honor of hearing several Onondaga Chiefs recite this over the years. Some of them have passed away in the past couple decades, but I like to remember hearing them deliver this message:

“I want to greet you to ask that we put our minds together as one and thank the Creator that we who are gathered here are well. It is now my duty to give our thanks.

The Creator has planned it this way: that every time we meet, no matter if it is during the day or at night, whether there are many or few, we give our thanks to Him for all that he has provided to us.

The Creator made our Mother Earth, and gave her many duties. Among those duties is to provide for all of her children. We see evidence of this daily, and for this, we should be grateful. Now, as we gather together as one, we give thanks that it is this way.

The Creator planted the seeds for the trees, bushes, and grasses that grow on Mother Earth. These plants all have names. They are important contributors to the cycle of life on Mother Earth. Some of them are medicine. As we pass through each season, we should be aware of the plant life around us. Today, as we are gathered together as one, let us give thanks for all of the trees, bushes, and grasses that share our Mother Earth's surface with us.

The Creator also blessed Mother Earth with the birds. Each bird has its own duties as part of the cycle of life. The eagle is the leader of the bird nation. It flies the highest, to keep safe watch over all below it. So let us put our minds together, and be thankful for the birds. Let us be respectful of the Creator's wish for the birds to do their duties.

The Creator has provided us with life-giving foods. We enrich our appreciation for, and relationship to, our Mother Earth when we plant seeds in the spring. Mother Earth's life force provides for these seeds to grow. These plants help us to stay in harmony with the cycles of the moon. Let us put our minds together, and give thanks for these energy forces that nourish us.

The Created has provided us with the winds. On a hot day, a gentle breeze cools us. In the winter, it brings heavy storms. This is to keep us conscious of the fact that human beings do not control our Mother Earth. Let us put our minds together, and give thanks for the voice of nature, the wind.

The Creator has made the wind's uncles, the thunder. The thunder, too, is a voice of nature. When we overlook the soft voices of the singing brooks, or the wing moving through the trees' leaves, the thunder catches our attention. Let us put our minds together, and give thanks for the thunder energies, doing their duty.

The Creator has provided the sun, our oldest ancestor. It is through the energies of the sun that all life on Mother Earth comes. It is good for us to put our minds together, and give thanks for the warming and life-giving forces of the sun.

The Creator also provides us with the moon and the stars. These help us to keep the measure of the months and years. When we go outside at night, we see the beauty of the moon and the stars, doing their duties. Let us put our minds together and give thanks to the moon and stars.

The Creator saw that with the sun, the moon, and the stars would come the cycles of daylight and darkness at night. And so it is in each of our individual lives: we have cycles of light and dark. And so the Creator has provided us with the four Protectors. These forces help to provide for the safety of human beings. Let us put our minds together and give thanks for these four Protectors.

Each day, the energy force of the Creator flows through us, exactly as it flows through the sun, the moon, the stars, the wind, the two-legged and four-legged, the winged, and the water beings. Let us put our minds together today, and everyday, so that we can perform our rightful duties as human beings living on Mother Earth.