The words of The Haudenosaunee Thanksgiving Address are gentle, inspiring, inclusive, and loving. They remind us to be thankful and peaceful every day.
The words of “The Thanksgiving Address: the Words that Come Before All Else” in gatherings of members of the Haudenosaunee people, including the Onondaga, Iroquois, Mohawk, Oneida, Cayuga, and Seneca, open our eyes and hearts to everything around us.
The Haudenosaunee people give thanks every day, not just on Thanksgiving Day
1. This lovely 9-minute video version of The Thanksgiving Address, or “The Words that Come Before All Else,” was recorded by Ina Barrón with video produced by Sagehorse, Inc., and is featured on the Peace Alliance website.
(Skip the commercials in all videos.) https://youtu.be/SfeL2VqL2VQ?si=1SAeRmGW0sxAsESM
2. Learn the background in this 4-minute Q & A video with representatives from the Onondaga Nation: Whatweni⋅neh – elder Frieda Jacques (Turtle Clan) and student Kateri - Riley Thornton (Snipe Clan): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=swJs2cGNwIU
This video explains: “The Thanksgiving Address (the Ohen:ton Karihwatehkwen) is the central invocation for the Haudenosaunee (also known as the Iroquois Confederacy or Six Nations — Mohawk, Oneida, Cayuga, Onondaga, Seneca, and Tuscarora).
It reflects their relationship of giving thanks for life and the world around them. This video, filmed on location at the Onondaga Nation School in Onondaga Nation, focuses on the purpose and uses of the Haudenosaunee Thanksgiving Address. (This video is part of the New York State Education Department Curriculum.)”
3. Matika Wilbur’s Project 562 presents youth from upstate New York’s Akwesasne, a Mohawk Nation, speaking a short (2-minute) version of the Address in Akwesasne.
The engaging high school students giggle and smile as they speak the Ohen:ton Karihwatehkwen, understood as the “Words Before All Else,” “The Greetings To The Natural World,” or “The Opening Address.” https://www.project562.com/blog/363283-a-real-thanksgiving-address-the-words-that-come-before-all-else
4. This PDF version, from the National Museum of the American Indian would make a wonderful classroom illustration project or classroom or family read-aloud: https://americanindian.si.edu/environment/pdf/01_02_Thanksgiving_Address.pdf
5. To broaden students’ understanding of the Mohawk people today and to think about ecological concerns of the Mohawk people in upstate NY, show this 5-minute video that starts with Akwesasne Freedom School’s teacher Maxine Cole’s clear explanation of the daily nature of the Thanksgiving Address and moves to the role of the ash tree in Mohawk culture. This page is from the National Museum of the American Indian, and has many more teaching resources, including interactive quizzes and more. https://americanindian.si.edu/environment/akwesasne/People.cshtml
6. The Haudenosaunee Guide for Educators, produced by the National Museum of the American Indian, introduces many concepts, including the Haudenosaunee’s Great Law of Peace, which influenced Benjamin Franklin and other creators of the United States Constitution. https://americanindian.si.edu/sites/1/files/pdf/education/HaudenosauneeGuide.pdf
7. Learn more about the peacebuilding mission of The Peace Alliance, working for peace education, enhancing personal peace practice, to pass HR 1111 to create a U.S. Department of Peacebuilding, and other social justice concerns. https://peacealliance.org
May we be thankful and build peace… every day.
Susan Gelber Cannon, November 2024