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My daughter found this Thanksgiving address online. It reminds me of more than one culture....

Iroquois Thanksgiving Address

Greetings to the Natural World The People

Today we have gathered and we see that the cycles of life continue. We have been given the duty 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 greetings and thanks to each other as people.

Now our minds are one.


The Earth Mother

We are 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 greetings and thanks.

Now our minds are one.


The Waters

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 greetings and thanks to the spirit of Water.

Now our minds are one.


The Fish

We turn our minds to 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 thanks.

Now our minds are one.


The Plants

Now we turn toward the vast fields of Plant life. 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 thanks and look forward to seeing Plant life for many generations to come.

Now our minds are one.


The Food Plants

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 a greeting of thanks.

Now our minds are one.


The Medicine Herbs

Now we turn to all the Medicine herbs 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 they are still among us those special few who remember how to use these plants for healing. With one mind, we send greetings and thanks to the Medicines and to the keepers of the Medicines.

Now our minds are one.


The Animals

We gather our minds together to send greetings and 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 hope that it will always be so.

Now our minds are one.


The Trees

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 greet and thank the Tree life.

Now our minds are one.


The Birds

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 thanks.

Now our minds are one.


The Four Winds

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 thanks to the Four Winds.

Now our minds are one.


The Thunderers

Now we turn to the west where our grandfathers, the Thunder Beings, live. With lightning and thundering voices, they bring with them the water that renews life. We bring our minds together as one to send greetings and thanks to our Grandfathers, the Thunderers.

Now our minds are one.


The Sun

We now send greetings and 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 greetings and thanks to our Brother, the Sun.

Now our minds are one.


Grandmother Moon

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 greeting and thanks to our Grandmother, the Moon.

Now our minds are one.


The Stars

We give thanks to the Stars who are spread across the sky like jewelry. 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 greetings and thanks to the Stars.

Now our minds are one.


The Enlightened Teachers

We gather our minds to greet and thank the enlightened Teachers who have come to help throughout the ages. When we forget how to live in harmony, they remind us of the way we were instructed to live as people. With one mind, we send greetings and thanks to these caring teachers.

Now our minds are one.


The Creator

Now we turn our thought to the creator, or Great Spirit, and send greetings and 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 still 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.


Closing Words We have now arrived at the place where we end our words. Of all the things we have named, it was not our intention to leave anything out. If something was forgotten, we leave it to each individual to send such greetings and thanks in their own way.

Now our minds are one.

http://www.nativevillage.org/Inspiratio ... ddress.htm

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Linda Thanks for posting this I really liked this.Thanksgiving address

love this!

Thank you for posting that, Linda.

I hope everyone has an enjoyable and relaxing day today.

Turkey with home made cranberry sauce, stuffing, mash potatos (made from scratch), yams with brown sugar, hot roles and butter, green bean casarole, wild rice, pumpkin pie and ice cream, home canned pears.

Yummy.

Even the parrot ate some turkey and wild rice.

Well enjoy your late thanksgiving! We had ours on Columbus Day.

Linda wrote:Even the parrot ate some turkey and wild rice.

All I could think about when I read this was CANNIBALISM!!!!!

Linda, I hope you had a big crowd. That sounds like a huge feast!

We were just three people at home, two of whom don't really care for turkey, so I made roast pork with an apple cider sauce. Yum. I had never brined a pork roast before and it really makes a nice difference. And I made sweet potato muffins for afternoon snack/dessert. The big dinner for us comes Saturday when my brothers and their families will be here.

Right now I am sitting down with my computer, fanfic, and a beer. Happy Thanksgiving!

Somehow I feel left out I never got this thanksgiving malarkey. Can someone educate a clueless Hun, what all this is about? We have something called "Erntedank" (literally: thanks for the harvest), but it usually is something antiquated and the average age of the participants of the celebration is about 235. Most of them probably helped Noah clean up the ark after the flood.

Is thanksgiving something similar, just 'eligable' for people with two digit ages?

It's a North American thing cause it comes from the pilgrims. They came here to Canada and the USA in the 1600s thinking it would be easy street and the Land of Plenty/slash/milk & honey, and then, lo, it was not Quite Like That.

A good many starved and sickened and died in their first year. But there were several incidents (in and among the general 2-way slaughter) in which the local native people shared food with starving European settlers from their own bountiful crops and hunting.

Certain dates and times are pointed to in particular, but in general the holiday has been a time for families to reunite at "harvest" and feel thankful for having good company and lots and lots of food.

A North American holiday, indeed.

Yep, what she said. For Americans, it's generally considered to mark a feast held with the Indians after the first harvest in Plimoth Plantation, though a lot of what we think we know about the holiday is not quite accurate. There's a very cool historical site here that helps you explore it: http://www.plimoth.org/education/olc/index_js2.html

I think it helps that it's always on a Thursday, and most people (who don't have to work retail, anyway) have the Friday off, too, so it's the most reliable long weekend of the year for most Americans. Even Christmas is sometimes only a three-day weekend. So this makes Thanksgiving a prime time for family reunions.

And, thankfully, nobody has manufactured a Thanksgiving gift-giving tradition yet, so we just get to focus on food, family, and football. However, it's also a common weekend to start gearing up for Christmas, which may explain the Black Friday phenomenon.

I remember a rather odd Thanksgiving party that was held for the American exchange students when I was in university in England. Really, it was just another excuse for the same disco dance we always ended up with at every party there, which was fun but on that evening just felt SO wrong. I don't know what I was expecting -- too much food and laying about on sofas watching American football? It wasn't going to happen.

Not terribly apropos of anything, my favorite English holiday that nobody here knows about is Guy Fawkes Day. Now THAT was fun!

Dang it, another specialty. "Black Friday"? Last time I heard of a 'Black friday' was wall street gamblers killing themselves on the start of the world wide crisis in 1929

LOL, I just submitted a story called "Black Friday on Vulcan" to fanfiction.net and TriS. I'm glad someone explained the Terran Black Friday (the day that comes after Thanksgiving and not the Wall Street jumpers one) or the humor about a Vulcan one may fall flat.

Alelou wrote:Not terribly apropos of anything, my favorite English holiday that nobody here knows about is Guy Fawkes Day. Now THAT was fun!

What do they do for that? Blow up parliament?

no, they burn effigies