In her best-selling book Braiding Sweetgrass, Native American botanist and storyteller Robin Wall Kimmerer shares the Haudenosaunee (People of the Longhouse) "Thanksgiving Address." This prayer of thanksgiving is also known as "The Words That Come Before All Else." It is a community prayer of gratitude for the living Earth and her gifts, recited during ceremonies and gatherings. This prayer reminds us that our original purpose and agreement is to honor and respect the reciprocal cycle of give and take, for Mother Earth provides everything we need to live and flourish. We are meant to appreciate and respect all of life, for everything is interconnected, interdependent, and mutually supportive in the web of life. Because it helps the participants appreciate their interdependence with, and feel connected to, the web of life, the Haudenosaunee, out of their loving generosity, have given it to all of the people of the world to use.
Faithkeeper Oren Lyons, of the Onondaga Nation, one of the six nations of the Haudenosaunee Confederacy, said about the ritual, "It's supposed to be shared, otherwise how can it work? We've been waiting for five hundred years for people to listen. If they'd understood the Thanksgiving then, we wouldn't be in this mess."
So when you read it with others, feel the gratitude in your heart for all of the world around us that gives us so much and allows us to live.
The Words That Come Before All Else
Today we have gathered and when we look upon the faces around us, 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 beings. So now, we bring our minds together as one as we give our greetings and our thanks to each other as People.
Everyone: 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 thanksgiving, love, and respect.
Everyone: Now our minds are one.
We give thanks to all the waters of the world for quenching our thirst, providing us with strength, and nurturing life for all beings. Water is life. We know its power in many forms -- waterfalls and rain, mists and streams, rivers and oceans, snow and ice. We are grateful that the waters are still here and meeting their responsibility to bring life to all of Creation. With one mind, we send our greetings and our thanks to the spirit of Water.
Everyone: Now our minds are one.
We turn our minds to all of the Fish life in the water. They were instructed to cleanse and purify the water. We are grateful that they continue to do their duties, and that we can still find pure water. So we send to the Fish our greetings and our thanks.
Everyone: Now our minds are one.
Now we turn toward the vast fields of 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.
Everyone: Now our minds are one.
When we look about us, we see that the berries are still here, providing us with delicious foods. The leader of the berries is the strawberry, the first to ripen in the spring. Can we agree that we are grateful that the berries are with us in the world and send our thanksgiving, love, and respect to the berries?
Everyone: Now our minds are one.
With one mind, we turn to honor and thank all the Food Plants we harvest from the garden who feed us with such abundance. Since the beginning of time, the grains, vegetables, beans and fruit have helped the people survive. Many other living beings draw strength from them as well. We gather together in our minds all the Plant Foods and send them our greetings and our thanks.
Everyone: 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 that there are still among us those special few who remember how to use these plants for healing. With one mind we send thanksgiving, love, and respect to the Medicines, and to the keepers of the Medicines.
Everyone: 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, who walk about with us. They have many things to teach us as people. We are grateful that they continue to share their lives with us and pray that it will always be so. Let us put our minds together as one and send our thanks to the Animals.
Everyone: Now our minds are one.
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