Tomorrow is Thanksgiving in the US. Let us remember and acknowledge that the Thanksgiving story has been twisted and manipulated to service the colonial systems we function within everyday. If someone you know is perpetuating the traditional, incomplete, and false Thanksgiving narrative, call them in and share a different, contrasting perspective. Place indigenous people and their ancestors whose land was stolen (the land upon which we currently live, work, and benefit from) at the center of your Thanksgiving observance.
Not sure how to start that difficult conversation? Marabou directs you to a resource guide compiled by the Center for Racial Justice in Education (formerly known as Border Crossers).
This guide has sources to aid you in facilitating conversations about Thanksgiving that span the spectrum of people you will encounter over the holiday, from children to adults. Need a way to explain why encouraging children to dress up like “pilgrims and indians” is a harmful perpetuation of oppressive power dynamics? Need some facts and quotes that help illustrate why Thanksgiving is also a Day of Mourning? Racial Justice Guide to Thanksgiving can lead you to that information. Sources are pulled from many outlets, including Teaching Tolerance and ArtandJustice.org.
Marabou is grateful to the Center for Racial Justice in Education and to all the thoughtful and generous people who openly share their tools that aid in constructing just and representative histories.
Below is one of the many sources Marabou found helpful in reimagining an American celebration of Thanksgiving. Visit the guide and see what is most helpful for you!
What are you giving thanks for on Thursday? This Haudenosaunee (also known as the Iroquois Confederacy or Six Nations — Mohawk, Oneida, Cayuga, Onondaga, Seneca, and Tuscarora) giving of thanks encompasses much more than what the average American remembers to be thankful for. It is used to open and close meetings and gatherings, so recited on a regular basis, not just once a year. As described on danceforallpeople.com, “The Thanksgiving Address teaches mutual respect, conservation, love, generosity, and the responsibility to understand that what is done to one part of the Web of Life, we do to ourselves.” Reading this Thanksgiving Address will likely lengthen the “I’m thankful for…” list of most friends and family sitting around your Thanksgiving table. For Marabou, this address offers a deeper and more thoughtful way to appreciate the world that surrounds us.
The Haudenosaunee Thanksgiving Address below is from Danceforallpeople.com. It is a translation of the Mohawk version of the Haudenosaunee Thanksgiving Address drawn from the 1993 version that was developed by the Six Nations Indian Museum and the Tracking Project.
Today we have gathered and we see that the cycles of life continue. We have been given the duty and responsibility to live in balance and harmony with each other and all living things. So now, we bring our minds together as one as we give our greetings and our thanks to one another as people.
NOW OUR MINDS ARE ONE
We are all thankful to our Mother, the Earth, for she gives us all that we need for life. She supports our feet as we walk about upon her. It gives us joy that she continues to care for us as she has from the beginning of time. To our mother, we send our greetings and our thanks.
NOW OUR MINDS ARE ONE
We give thanks to all the waters of the world for quenching our thirst and providing us with strength. Water is life. We know its power in many forms — waterfalls and rain, mists and streams, rivers and oceans. With one mind, we send our greetings and our thanks to the spirit of Water.
NOW OUR MINDS ARE ONE
We turn our minds to the all the Fish life in the water. They were instructed to cleanse and purify the water. They also give themselves to us as food. We are grateful that we can still find pure water. So, we turn now to the Fish and send our greetings and our thanks.
NOW OUR MINDS ARE ONE
Now we turn toward the Plants. As far as the eye can see, the Plants grow, working many wonders. They sustain many life forms. With our minds gathered together, we give our thanks and look forward to seeing Plant life continue for many generations to come.
NOW OUR MINDS ARE ONE
With one mind, we turn to honor and thank all the Food Plants we harvest from the garden. Since the beginning of time, the grains, vegetables, beans and berries have helped the people survive. Many other living things draw strength from them too. We gather all the Plant Foods together as one and send them our greetings and our thanks.
NOW OUR MINDS ARE ONE
Now we turn to all the Medicine plants of the world. From the beginning they were instructed to take away sickness. They are always waiting and ready to heal us. We are happy there are still among us those special few who remember how to use these plants for healing. With one mind we send our greetings and our thanks to the Medicines, and to the keepers of the Medicines.
NOW OUR MINDS ARE ONE
We gather our minds together to send our greetings and our thanks to all the Animal life in the world. They have many things to teach us as people. We are honored by them when they give up their lives so we may use their bodies as food for our people. We see them near our homes and in the deep forests. We are glad they are still here and we pray that this will always be so.
NOW OUR MINDS ARE ONE
We now turn our thoughts to the Trees. The Earth has many families of Trees who have their own instructions and uses. Some provide us with shelter and shade, others with fruit, beauty and other useful things. Many people of the world use a Tree as a symbol of peace and strength. With one mind, we send our greetings and our thanks to the Tree life.
NOW OUR MINDS ARE ONE
We put our minds together as one and thank all the Birds who move and fly about over our heads. The Creator gave them beautiful songs. Each day they remind us to enjoy and appreciate life. The Eagle was chosen to be their leader. To all the Birds — from the smallest to the largest — we send our joyful greetings and our thanks.
NOW OUR MINDS ARE ONE
We are all thankful to the powers we know as the Four Winds. We hear their voices in the moving air as they refresh us and purify the air we breathe. They help us to bring the change of seasons. From the four directions they come, bringing us messages and giving us strength. With one mind, we send our greetings and our thanks to the Four Winds.
NOW OUR MINDS ARE ONE
Now we turn to the west where our grandfathers, the Thunders live. With lightning and thundering voices, they bring with them the water that renews life. We are thankful that they keep those evil things made by Okwiseres underground. We bring our minds together as one to send our greetings and our thanks to our Grandfathers, the Thunders.
NOW OUR MINDS ARE ONE
We now send our greetings and our thanks to our eldest Brother, the Sun. Each day without fail he travels the sky from east to west, bringing the light of a new day. He is the source of all the fires of life. With one mind, we send our greetings and our thanks to our Brother, the Sun.
NOW OUR MINDS ARE ONE
We put our minds together to give thanks to our oldest Grandmother, the Moon, who lights the night‐time sky. She is the leader of woman all over the world, and she governs the movement of the ocean tides. By her changing face we measure time, and it is the Moon who watches over the arrival of children here on Earth. With one mind, we send our greetings and our thanks to our Grandmother, the Moon.
NOW OUR MINDS ARE ONE
We give our thanks to the Stars who are spread across the sky like jewels. We see them in the night, helping the Moon to light the darkness and bringing dew to the gardens and growing things. When we travel at night, they guide us home. With our minds gathered together as one, we send our greetings and our thanks for the Stars.
NOW OUR MINDS ARE ONE
We gather our minds together to consider the Wisdom Keepers who have come to help the people throughout the ages. When we forget how to live in harmony, they remind us of the way we were instructed to live. With one mind, we send our greetings and our thanks to these caring teachers.
NOW OUR MINDS ARE ONE
Now we turn our thoughts to the Creator, Shonkwaia’tîson, and send our greetings and our thanks for all the gifts of Creation. Everything we need to live a good life is here on this Mother Earth. For all the love that is around us, we gather our minds together as one and send our choicest words of greetings and thanks to the Creator.
NOW OUR MINDS ARE ONE
We have now arrived at the place where we end our words. Of all the things we have named, it is not our intention to leave anything out. If something has been forgotten, we leave it to each individual to send their greetings and their thanks in their own way.
AND NOW OUR MINDS ARE ONE