Thanksgiving is a day where people give thanks for the many wonderful
things and events that have assisted them or a friend and relative in some
way over the year, something that has a special meaning, or maybe it is a
time to forgive and forget as most people do, and forward is normally the
order that follows, getting on with life and leaving sad or stressful and
depressing incidents behind, starting over to shape the values in ones
life.
In Thanksgiving, there is parades, football, visiting, sharing of old
times and food and the cam-corders are taken out and the air is filled
with tears and laughter, both of sadness and of joy, but the time brings
together a family unity, as well as a unity of respect for American
traditions.
Not to be forgotten is the Native American Indians who also celebrate
Thanksgiving and some with a much different respect, although giving
thanks is nothing new, for traditional people who practice their culture
and religion on a regular basis, give thanks daily through various tribal
ceremonies.
Giving thanks for Mother Earth, the winds, snow, rain, the Elderly, the
Old, the Young, the New Born, the Unborn, the Sick and Dying; for food,
whether it be done in the traditional gathering manner, or by hunting or
fishing; for the traditional medicines; for the traditional medicine
people and for the traditional ceremonies, all thanked for daily by many
of our people, in many different ways, that come from teachings not found
in any book or taught in any educational institution, or in any movie.
In a manner of great Thanksgiving, we always remember our ancestors who
have gone before us, our relatives of yesterday, who gave of themselves,
so that we, their descendants, could live in a free environment within our
own culture, tradition and heritage, so that our Youth, tomorrow's future,
will indeed have a manner of truth spoken about their Sovereign Nations,
which will give them a culture and religion, based on oral facts handed
down and carried on, so that future generations of Native American Indians
to come will have truth and justice in a manner of Thanksgiving from times
gone by.
So in that, I thank the many wonderful people such as Michael Wilson,
Gary T., Pablo Bellon, Lou Edith and others, who made it possible for such
sites as Native-l to be a reality, a place where a manner of culture,
tradition and heritage can be shared, passed on, so that the Sovereign
Nations can go forth into tomorrow with a message of respect towards a way
of life that has been here in this country for time immemorial....and in
that we give thanks for life and death.