Allegiance to Gratitude (Oct 31, 2023- 418.55 ppm of atmospheric CO2)
Allegiance to Gratitude is the title of a chapter in the widely discussed book by Robin Wall Kimmerer Braiding Sweetgrass- Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge and the Teachings of Plants. In that chapter, Kimmerer, a mother, botanist, professor of Environmental Biology at SYNU and a member of the Citizen Potawatomi Nation introduces the Thanksgiving Address used by the Haudenosaunee Confederacy, also known as the Iroquois or Six Nations -Mohawk, Oneida, Cayuga, Onondaga, Seneca, and Tuscaora. The people of the Six Nations are from upstate New York and Canada. This message of peace and appreciation for the Earth, also called Greetings and Thanks to the Natural World, is still spoken at ceremonial gatherings and meetings held by the Six Nations. Children also are taught to greet each morning with these words, saying thanks to all living beings. The entire universe -from the sun and the stars to the smallest of plant- is addressed as one great community. Kimmerer calls it a lesson in Native Science as: “.. each element of the ecosystem is named in its turn, along with its function”.
As it was my turn to lead the Awake In the Wild daily nature meditation on November 22, 2021, just a few days before the celebration of Thanksgiving in the United States, I was inspired to use this Native American text. Wanting to avoid any cultural appropriation, I reached out to the Six Nations and explained the context for my use of the text. I was blessed by a response from the Onondaga Historical Association in Syracuse, NY, and a little note of introduction to the text from Onondaga clan mother and teacher, Freida Jacques. She wrote:
