Jessica Crabtree

Indian Country Today: Thanksgiving symbolizes Native generosity and kindness

A great story about how the Oneida Nation is participating in community outreach and advocacy programs to fight hunger and homelessness.

“Integral to this agreement is a commitment by both parties to rediscover the origin and spirit of the Thanksgiving holiday, which dates back to Native people providing this country’s first newcomers with food and shelter,” says a statement issued by the coalition.

It seems this is a real-life extension of the values expressed in the Oneida’s symbolic display in the Thanksgiving Day parade. (For those of you who missed it, the float entitled “The True Spirit of Thanksgiving” depicts images from Iroquois cosmology embodying unity and gratitude.)

“The greatest gift may be that peace was considered by the Iroquois people to be one of the greatest gifts to mankind. Peace. And it was peace that was understood and achieved by the Iroquois during a time of great stress. It was a gift from the Creator, a gift that mankind doesn’t always achieve, but that doesn’t mean we stop believing it or stop striving for it, and it comes from the culture of our people.

Sometimes we become overwhelmed with negativity – that’s easy to do as Indian people, but we must not forget our culture. That same culture still exists and there’s still something to be done in America by its people sharing and understanding what American Indians not only have given but continue to give to America, and that’s the true spirit of Thanksgiving.”

– Ray Halbritter, official spokesperson of the Oneida Nation, on the Iroquois concept of “the good mind”