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)

America's Indigenous Foods

Many foods on the Thanksgiving table are indigenous to the Americas: potatoes, pumpkin, turkey, cranberries, corn, yams. In fact, MANY foods now used around the world originated in the Americas and were cultivated by Native American tribes and cultures before they were "discovered" by European treasure hunters. What would Italy be without tomatoes? What would Switzerland be without chocolate? What would Pad Thai be without peanuts? Thanksgiving is a great time to learn about foods native and non-native to your region. See a map of foods and learn more here.

Some of the foods originating with Native Americans:

Avocado

Beans (all but garbanzo, soy, mung)

Blueberries

Cashews

Chocolate

Corn (also popcorn)

Cranberries

Huckleberries

Maple Sugar

Peanut

Papaya 

Peppers

Potatoes

Pumpkins

Pecan

Pineapple

Quinoa

Squash

Sunflower seeds

Sweet Potato

Tomato

Vanilla

Yams

Indigenous American WORDS

Many common use words come from Native American languages. This is not a complete list.

Algonquin languages

Chipmunk †

Originally "chitmunk," from Odawa jidmoonh[13] /t͡ʃɪtmő/ (c.f. Ojibwe ajidamoo(nh)),[2] "red squirrel".

Eskimo †

From Old Montagnais <aiachkimeou> (/aːjast͡ʃimeːw/) (modern ayassimēw), meaning "snowshoe-netter" (often incorrectly claimed to be from an Ojibwe word meaning "eaters of raw [meat]"), and originally used to refer to the Mikmaq.[15][16]

Hickory †

From Powhatan <pocohiquara>, "milky drink made with hickory nuts".[17][18]

Moccasin †

From an Algonquian language, perhaps Powhatan <mockasin>,[23] reconstituted as */mahkesen/[24](c.f. Ojibwe makizin,[2] Míkmaq mɨkusun[25], from Proto-Algonquian *maxkeseni).[26]

Moose †

From Eastern Abenaki moz, reinforced by cognates from other Algonquian languages[27][28] (e.g. Massachusett/Narragansett moos,[28] Ojibwe moo(n)z,[2] Lenape mus 'elk'[29]), from Proto-Algonquian *mo·swa.[28]

Muskrat †

A folk-etymologized reshaping of earlier "musquash", from Massachusett (c.f. Western Abenaki mòskwas), apparently from Proto-Algonquian *mo·šk, "bob (at the surface of the water)" + *-exkwe·-, "head" + a derivational ending).[32]

Opossum †

From Powhatan <apasum>/<opussum>/<aposoum>, "white dog-like animal",[33] reconstituted as */aːpassem/[34] (c.f. Proto-Algonquian *waːp-aʔθemwa, "white dog").[35][36]

Papoose †

From Narragansett <papoòs>[37] or Massachusett <pappouse>, "baby".[38]

Powwow †

From Narragansett powwaw, "shaman" (Proto-Algonquian *pawe·wa, "to dream, to have a vision").[46]

Raccoon †

From Powhatan <arahkun>/<aroughcun>,[53] tentatively reconstituted as */aːreːhkan/.[54]

Skunk †

From Massachusett <squnck>[citation needed] (Proto-Algonquian *šeka·kwa, from *šek-, "to urinate" + *-a·kw, "fox").[58]

Squash (fruit) †

From Narragansett <askútasquash>.[59]

Succotash †

From Narragansett <msíckquatash>, "boiled whole kernels of corn" (Proto-Algonquian *mesi·nkwete·wari, singular *mesi·nkwete·, from *mes-, "whole" + *-i·nkw-, "eye [=kernel]" + -ete·, "to cook").[60]

Toboggan †

From Míkmaq topaqan[64] or Maliseet-Passamaquoddy /tʰaˈpakən/[65] (Proto-Algonquian *weta·pye·kani, from *wet-, "to drag" + *-a·pye·-, "cordlike object" + *-kan, "instrument for").[64]

Tomahawk †

From Powhatan <tamahaac> (Proto-Algonquian *temaha·kani, from *temah-, "to cut" + *-a·kan, "instrument for").[66]

Totem †

From Ojibwe nindoodem, "my totem" or odoodeman, "his totem," referring to a kin group.[67]

Nahuatl

Avocado †

from āhuacatl, "avocado" or "testicle"

Chili †

from chīlli

Chocolate †

Often said to be from Nahuatl xocolātl[37] or chocolātl,[80] which would be derived from xococ "bitter" and ātl "water" (with an irregular change of x > ch).[81] However, the form xocolātl is not directly attested, and chocolatl does not appear in Nahuatl until the mid-18th century. Some researchers have recently proposed that the chocol- element was originally chicol-, and referred to special wooden stick used to prepare chocolate.[82]

Cacao † and cocoa †

from cacahuatl

Coyote †

from coyō

Tamale †

from tamalli

Tule †

from tōllin, "reed, bulrush"

Tomato †

from tomatl

Eskimo-Aleut languages

Igloo †

from Inuktitut iglu ([iɣlu])[91]

Kayak †

from Inuktitut qajaq[91]

Mukluk †

from Yupik maklak ([makɬak]), "Bearded Seal"[91]

Arawakan languages

Barbecue †

from an Arawakan language of Haiti barbakoa, "framework of sticks",[98] via Spanish barbacoa.[99]

Canoe †

from Taino via Spanish canoa.[104]

Hammock †

from Taino, via Spanish hamaca.[108]

Hurricane †

from Taino hurakán, via Spanish.[109]

Iguana †

from an Arawakan language iwana.[110][111]

Papaya †

from Taino.[115]

Potato †

from the Taino word for "sweet potato", via Spanish batata.[116]

Words from Tupi-Guaraní languages

Cashew †

from Tupí acaîu

Cayenne †

from Tupí kyinha.[122]

Cougar †

ultimately corrupted from Guaraní guaçu ara.[123]

Jaguar †

from Tupinambá /jaˈwar-/,[124] via Portuguese.[125]

Maraca †

from Tupí maraka

Macaw †

via Portuguese Macau from Tupi macavuana, which may be the name of a type of palm tree the fruit of which the birds eat.[126]

Petunia †

from Tupí petun 'smoke'

Piranha †

from Tupí.[127]

Tapioca †

from Tupinambá /tɨpɨˈʔok-a/,[124] "juice squeezed out".[128]

Toucan †

from Tupinambá /tuˈkan-/,[124] via Portuguese and French.[129]

Words from Quechua

Condor †

from kuntur, via Spanish condor

Jerky †

from ch'arki, via Spanish charquí

Quinoa †

from kinwa

Sahaptin languages

(northwestern plateau along the Columbia River and its tributaries in southern Washington, northern Oregon, and southwestern Idaho)

Appaloosa †

Either named for the Palouse River, whose name comes from Sahaptin palú:s, "what is standing up in the water"; or for Opelousas, Louisiana, which may come from Choctaw api losa, "black body".[132]

Chinook †

from Lower Chehalis tsʼinúk, the name of a village,[142][143] via Chinook Trade Jargon.

Coho †

from Halkomelem k̉ʷə́xʷəθ ([kʷʼəxʷəθ]).[37][145][146]

Sockeye †

from Halkomelem /ˈsθəqəʔj/.[172]

Potlatch †

from Nuuchahnulth (Nootka) p̉aƛp̉ač ([pʼatɬpʼat͡ʃ], reduplication of p̉a, "to make ceremonial gifts in potlatch", with the iterative suffix -č) via Chinook Jargon.[166]

Tipi †

from Lakota thípi, "house".[62]