Today is a day in which American families come together for food, football and fun. While several countries celebrate a Thanksgiving for the harvest, in the United States it's still very rooted in the colonial period and the "first Thanksgiving," which historically wasn't a great period for Native American people.
But the act of giving thanks, making a lifestyle of it, is deeply rooted in Haudenosaunee culture and tradition.
"We're taught to do a Ganö:nyök, the Thanksgiving address, or the words that become before all else when we gather. And we're taught to do it when we wake up in the morning and before we put our head to our pillow, and it really helps us to reset and reground ourselves in that perspective of gratitude and abundance which is the core of our what we call Kariwiio, or the Good Mind."
That's Michael Martin, an Onondaga of the Beaver clan and Executive Director of Native American Community Services. He said the practice of giving thanks lays the foundation for Haudenosaunee people. It grounds you in the past, present and future.
"We acknowledge the people. We acknowledge all the gifts of the natural world. We feel we have a benevolent creator, one who's intended us to be healthy and well, and has gifted us these gifts of the natural world. Water, food, our medicines, plants we use for our medicines, the animals, the trees, that take our carbon dioxide, turn it back into oxygen so we can breathe," said Martin. "And the sun and the moon and all the stars and the winds and the Grandfathers of Thunders, all those things in that Thanksgiving address are just to remind us of how much we are in abundance, how thankful we should be for that."
Martin has speaking engagements in a variety of settings, many focused on the Good Mind. Finding common ground and common ways to give thanks is important to him.
"It helps to reset our good minds, you know. And I tell often audiences that I'm sharing the Thanksgiving with, if you really, just put your head to your pillow tonight and just think about just this one day of giving thanks, right? All the things you have to be thankful for," Martin said. "You woke up this morning, you opened your eyes, you took that breath, you were given another day of life on this earth. And we all know, unfortunately, that's a fragile gift, but we've been given that. So we give thanks. Amazing things can happen in one day. It's up to us, what we do with it."
The Ganö:nyök, or Thanksgiving address, is something that's said in many gatherings of Haudenosaunee people. There is no one correct Ganö:nyök, but when it's spoken in the traditional language, is oftentimes an oral version that's been passed down for generations.
"It's one of those what we call the original instructions. When we were, in our teachings, we all came as humans from the same creation, and we all would have gotten those same original instructions," Martin said. "And when I talk about teachings of the Good Mind. I always say that they're universal, because I think all people have gotten those. You look across cultures and religions, you'll see those same elements within the core of those and I think if we focus on more on our common humanity, we will see more of that."
Martin said that expression of gratitude is super impactful for Native people who've experienced trauma across multiple generations, from the colonial period, land loss and removal to the long era of residential boarding schools and more through present day. He said it's almost therapeutic.
"There's a lot of practicality to it too, because like during the pandemic and other times of worrying, especially these times we live in today, we know we have a lot of young people dealing with anxiety and fears," he said. "And we know anxiety is sort of this fear about the future and what could happen. We know depression is like a fear about the past reoccurring and things that are holding us back in the past. And so we do practices of grounding ourselves, you know, taking a breath of life, just a just a deep breath, taking in all of creation into that breath, into you, to help refocus ourselves in the present and then be find something to be thankful for. That helps to rewire the brain into reducing some of that anxiety, that worry and that fear that people might be facing,"
The Haudenosaunee have certainly made giving thanks an integral part of their principles like the seven generation and gathering of the Good Mind. Martin said all people can make it part of their routine and traditions to improve their well being and the well being of their communities.
"It's not it's not copyrighted in any way," Martin briefly joked. "And I encourage people to practice living in gratitude. And there's a lot of science that's catching up to the power of gratitude, not only dealing with anxiety and depression, but it helps you sleep better, because a lot of people go to bed worried."
"If you can ground yourself with that Thanksgiving and really see okay, things aren't as bad. You know, I'll get over this challenge too, and I have all the things I need to help live a healthy and good life, and if I focus on those, I'll be fine," Martin said. "You know, it creates an interconnection between people and all living things. So it's a powerful act, you know, and I encourage people to put that in practice, and both small and large ways,"
Some Thanksgiving food for thought, the Haudenosaunee way.
