A Thanksgiving prayer from the Iroquois (Seneca) people -Native American Indian Tribes - Over 2,000 articles on native american indians, their culture & traditions.

Over 2,000 articles about native americans of the US and Canada First Nations.

Submit your own articles about american indians without knowing any HTML here
Are you ready?

Today's Top Story:

Native burial grounds near Tisch Mills may include Viking ship

Privacy Policy

Any information collected on our site is used for internal purposes only and will not be shared or sold to third parties!

Your transactions in our store are secure

Videos of the Week

Shoshone-Bannock History in Idaho
PART I OF II: 2008's historic Idaho Democratic Convention, held in Boise, ID, June 12-14, invited Idaho Native American Tribal members from the Shoshone-Bannock/Fort Hall, Shoshone-Paiute/Duck Valley, Nez Perce, and Coeur D'Alene tribal communities to take an active part in the convention activities. On June 12th, the Idaho AFL-CIO hosted a Democratic picnic for convention goers. Mr. Ted Howard, Cultural Resource Director, Duck Valley, spoke to picnic participants about the Shoshone-Paiute-Bannock history in the Boise Valley area. 9:49 minutes.

Part II-Grand Entry, Flag Ceremony and Recessional
All convention tribal members participated in the grand entry at the beginning of the June 13th Idaho Democratic Convention gathering followed by a flag ceremony and presentation by Mr. Lee Juan Tyler, Council Member, Shoshone-Bannock/Fort Hall community. Fort Hall and Duck Valley singers and drummers played songs for the grand entry, flag ceremony and recessional.
9:59 minutes

Native American Prophecy
Narrated by the late Floyd RedCrow Westerman 6:36 minutes

7 Generations
Elder Orin Lyons talks about preparing for the next 7 generations. 8:43 minutes

R&S->Prayers: A Thanksgiving prayer from the Iroquois (Seneca) people

Posted on Wednesday, November 13 @ 23:21:50 CST

KEYWORDS: Thanksgiving Prayer thanksgiving prayer Iroquois seneca Indian prayer for Thanksgiving Lord of the Sky in the beginning of all things be thankful sister corn clinging sisters beans sister squash three sacred sisters sacred fire Iroquois language Seneca language Gwa Gayant' gogwus Ona'o the sacred food Nyo'sowane, our sister squash Oa'geta, our sister beans FWDP Center For World Indigenous Studies Fourth World Documentation Project

Translated by: Chuck Larsen, Seneca

Gwa! Gwa! Gwa!
Now the time has come!
Hear us, Lord of the Sky!
We are here to speak the truth,
For you do not hear lies,
We are your children, Lord of the Sky.

Now begins the Gayant' gogwus
This sacred fire and sacred tobacco
And through this smoke
We offer our prayers.
We are your children, Lord of the Sky.

Now in the beginning of all things
You provided that we inherit your creation.
You said, "I shall make the earth
On which people shall live
And they shall look to the earth as their mother."
And they shall say, "It is she who supports us."
You said that we should always be thankful
For our earth and for each other.
So it is that we are gathered here,
We are your children, Lord of the Sky.

Stumble It!

Now again the smoke rises
And again we offer prayers
You said that food should be placed beside us
And it should be ours in exchange for our labor.
You thought that ours should be a world
where green grass of many kinds should grow.
You said that some should be medicines
And that one should be Ona'o
the sacred food, our sister corn.
You gave to her two clinging sisters
beautiful Oa'geta, our sister beans
and bountiful Nyo'sowane, our sister squash.
The three sacred sisters; they who sustain us.

This is what you thought, Lord of the Sky.
Thus did you think to provide for us.
And you ordered that when the warm season comes,
That we should see the return of life
And remember you, and be thankful,
and gather here by the sacred fire.

So now again the smoke arises.
We the people offer our prayers.
We speak to you through the rising smoke.
We are thankful, Lord of the Sky.

(Liberally translated.)

One Hundred Years
Thomas Simmons
10 in x 8 in
Buy This Art Print At AllPosters.com
Framed | Mounted

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

This prayer was loosely translated by Chuck Larsen, (Seneca) for the Center For World Indigenous Studies and The Fourth World Documentation Project. All FWDP files may be reproduced for electronic transfer or posting on computer networks and bulletin boards provided that:

1. All text remains unaltered.
2. No profit is made from such transfer.
3. Full credit is given to the author(s) and the Fourth World Documentation Project.
4. This notice is included in the archive if being used as a file on a BBS, FTP site or other file archive.

The Fourth World Documentation Project runs entirely on grants and private donations. If you find this information service useful to you in any way, please consider making a donation to help keep it running. CWIS is a non-profit [U.S. 501(c)(3)] organization. All donations are completely tax deductible. Donations may be made to:

The Center For World Indigenous Studies
c/o The Fourth World Documentation Project
P.O. Box 2574
Olympia, Washington
USA 98507-2574

Questions and comments on FWDP can be addressed to John Burrows, Director of the Fourth World Documentation Project at the above address, or email jburrows@halcyon.com
Fido Net 1:352/333
206-786-9629
The Quarto Mundista BBS