Native Americans' Thanksgiving

 

Thanksgiving is a year-round practice of giving thanks

From All Things Considered NPR, NOVEMBER 24, 2021

The Green Corn Festival in celebration of the corn harvest at the end of August.

 For local Wampanoags, and Indigenous people throughout North America, gathering to give thanks was already a familiar custom, taking place not just annually, but 13 times throughout the lunar, calendar year — a cycle known as the Thirteen Moons or Thirteen Thanksgivings.

"Thanksgivings are a big part of our culture. Giving thanks is how we pray," says Kerri Helme, a Mashpee Wampanoag whose tribal ancestors were the first to engage with Plymouth's Pilgrims when they arrived..."

"..Come November, when temperatures drop, the focus shifts from harvesting to hunting during Hunters Moon, the next celebration in the cycle.

"That moon is an important time for us," says Cassius Spears Jr. first councilman of the Narragansett tribe in Rhode Island.

But in recent decades wildlife, habitat and the cycle of the Thirteen Moons themselves face threats, Spears says, from climate change.

"If the strawberries aren't growing, how are you going to have a strawberry thanksgiving? If the green corn is stunted because of drought and it's not ready for harvest, or the quantity isn't there at the end of the season, how are we able to do our ceremonies?" he asks.

In answer to his own questions, Spears says Indigenous people will find ways to endure, as they always have, just as day follows night.

"We give thanks every day when the sun rises, or the sun sets, we give thanks. So it's something that we do. It's a part of who we are, which is far, far removed from American Thanksgiving and football and turkey and getting mad at your family" he says, wryly.

Expressing gratitude thirteen times a year, Spears concludes, not only shows respect for the earth, but keeps Indigenous people in close touch with the cycles of creation's blessings.

SOURCE: NPR Thanksgiving is a Year-Round Practice

Today is Native American Heritage Day.

 

"Pi’tamaka also known as "Brown Weasel Woman” was born into the Piikáni Piegan Tribe of the Blackfeet Nation. She was the eldest of two sisters and two brothers. As a girl, she began to show less interest in traditional female roles and more interest in hunting and the games her brothers played. Her father, a well-respected warrior of the tribe, indulged her interest and taught her to hunt and fight.

"She loved learning the ways of a warrior and soon gave up the work of the household in exchange for hunting buffalo with her father. During one of these buffalo hunts, the group of hunters encountered an enemy war party and when they retreated at top speed to escape their enemies, her father had his horse shot out from under him and he was injured. Although it was very dangerous, Brown Weasel Woman turned back, picked up her father and escaped. One of the bravest deeds a warrior could perform was to face the enemy while riding back to rescue someone who was left behind. So when she returned to camp, the people honored her for being courageous.

"Soon after, her mother became very ill and, because she was the oldest child, Brown Weasel Woman took over the chores of the household to help her mother. Although she was an excellent home maker, she did not have any interest in doing any of it. She enjoyed the men’s activities of hunting and war much more. Although many of the men took an interest in her, she did not have any interest in having a boyfriend or becoming married.

"The turning point of Brown Weasel Woman’s life came when her father was killed during a war party and her mother died soon afterwards. Brown Weasel Woman suddenly became responsible for her brothers and sisters. She took on the role as the head of the family which meant that she hunted for and protected her family. Because of this new responsibility, a widowed woman moved in to help with the household chores and to help teach her brothers and sisters.

"Brown Weasel Woman’s first war adventure was against the Crows who had stolen some Blackfeet horses. It took the war party several days to get to Crow country, but when they arrived, the Blackfeet were successful at stealing many of the Crow’s horses. Brown Weasel Woman stole eleven horses by herself. Although the Crows chased them for a while, the Blackfeet got safely back to their camp.

"On the way back to the camp, Brown Weasel Woman was on watch duty from the top of a butte, while the others rested in a hidden location. She saw two enemies approaching, and before she could reach the men to warn them of the danger, the enemies were ready to round up and steal their horses. Brown Weasel Woman ran down the butte with her rifle and grabbed the rope of the herd’s lead horse to keep the rest from running away. The enemies saw that she was a woman and began to close in on her because they did not expect any trouble from her. Brown Weasel Woman shot the enemy who carried a rifle and forced the other one to turn and run. The men were very impressed by her courage of saving the horses and killing an enemy.

"During the summer, when the tribes gathered and the warriors told of their many adventures, the Piikáni chief told Brown Weasel Woman to share hers. This was a highly unusual thing for a woman to be asked, but after doing so, the chief bestowed upon her the name Pi'tamaka (Running Eagle) as a sign of respect and honor."

SOURCE:

Native American History on Facebook