In response to Michelle Berger”s article on Wednesday, Nov. 24 about the origins of Thanksgiving, I”d like to add that not only Europeans and Spanish celebrate traditions of an annual holiday. Gratitude was a way of life with ancient traditions practiced, and still practiced to this day, by American Indian people.
Thanking the Earth spirit, Great Spirit and the sky, and offering to protect the same is and was the role of humans. The four directions are blessed and thanked as well in many ceremonies. The West direction is life-giving and the source for rain. The East represents knowledge and is the essence of spirituality. The North is thanked for endurance, strength and honesty. The South is thanked for bounty, medicine and growth. There are variations among many different tribes, but it”s useful for us to reflect on this.
The pipe ceremony is a link between Earth and sky, and is the most sacred because it is a prayer in physical form. Fire symbolizes the sun, and tobacco is chosen because its roots go deep into the earth and its smoke rises high into the heavens. The thanking ceremony that we conduct on Thanksgiving one day a year is a way of life for some people. It needs to be practiced by many more of us, so that we do not forget the connection between our mind and our heart. Often our mind “runs” things in our life, but our hearts need to be in control to keep us on our path and love one another.
I found some of the information for this article by reading articles about Lakota, Cree, Sioux and Pomo practices and traditions.
Ellen Karnowski
Kelseyville
