Thinking about American Indians at Thanksgiving?

Happy Native American Heritage Month! There are many ways to honor our American tribes during the holiday season and at your Thanksgiving table:

Honor Traditions

• Text your zip code to 907-312-5085 and the bot will respond with the names of the Native peoples that correspond to your region. Say a prayer of thanks to people who kept the water and land you depend on clean and healthy for thousands of years.

• Give thanks for the American Indian foods at your table: tomatoes, peanuts, yams, chocolate, pumpkin, turkey - lots to be thankful for! Here is a partial list I made.

• Make a date to attend a powwow (Yes - anyone can go). You will learn something and your ticket $ supports tribal culture just like it would the symphony or ballet.

• Get vaccinated so powwows and religious ceremonies can safely begin again. Less access to quality healthcare, nutrition, and health sustaining resources continue to make tribal communities more susceptible to Covid death.

Honor Experiences

• Know your history. Many tribes couldn’t practice their religion or speak their own languages in schools until 1990. Gerrymandering and voter restriction laws continue to limit the voice of American Indians. Brief history of rights: https://www.facebook.com/watch/?ref=saved&v=10154839032596495 

• Follow Native news sources and social media accounts to learn about current issues affecting their lives. You will learn that your votes matter on many issues critical to Tribal rights: https://indiancountrymedianetwork.com

• Buy a BOOK written by an American Indian.

• Watch a MOVIE made by Indians.

• Purchase some American Indian music (Snotty Nose Rez Kids, Supaman, and A Tribe Called Red are some recent faves). Suggestions here: https://medleymag.wordpress.com/.../15-contemporary.../

Honor Creation

• Re-center your decision making within 7-generations wisdom: “In our every deliberation, we must consider the impact of our decisions on the next seven generations.” Accept that choices, votes, and actions made today will determine the future of the planet. 

• Honor the Creator with an action or gift to an organization actively working to heal our Earth.

• Choose a species to adopt into your family. Making Pacific Lamprey our family member has enriched our lives in countless ways. It is now possible that these amazing, 450 million year old animals (older than trees!) will escape a once-certain path toward extinction. Other animals need YOUR family to survive. Can you imagine the world if we all made such commitments?!

Honor the Planet

• Pick one household change you can make that is better for the planet. https://healtheplanet.com/100-ways-to-heal-the-planet/

• Put in your zip code to find the best native plants to feed insects, birds, and animals native to your area https://www.nwf.org/nativeplantfinder/plants

Honor Connections

• Give Native art a space in your life and home. Here are Indigenous owned shops on Etsy: https://www.etsy.com/search?q=indigenous%20owned%20shops&ref=auto-1)

• Tribal wisdom teaches that food is our most intimate and tangible connection to the earth. Learn where the ingredients you eat at your Thanksgiving feast were grown, try to use local, and reflect on the fact that our very bodies are gifts from the Earth.

• Leave a space at the table and create a personal intention to honor the people who were here before us - and are STILL HERE.

Bonus for doing all of the above.

LOVE for the tribes of America!

(Photo taken in Pendleton, Oregon)