Haudenosaunee Thanksgiving Address Greetings to the Natural World

The Thanksgiving Address (the Ohen:ton Karihwatehkwen) is a traditional address of gratitude 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. The Haudenosaunee open and close every social and religious meeting with the Thanksgiving Address. 

It is also said as a daily sunrise prayer, and is an ancient message of peace and appreciation of Mother Earth and her inhabitants. The children learn that, according to Native American tradition, people everywhere are embraced as family. Our diversity, like all wonders of Nature, is truly a gift for which we are thankful.

When one recites the Thanksgiving Address the Natural World is thanked, and in thanking each life-sustaining force, one becomes spiritually tied to each of the forces of the Natural and Spiritual World.  The Thanksgiving Address teaches mutual respect, conservation, love, generosity, and the responsibility to understand that what is done to one part of the Web of Life, we do to ourselves.

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Founded as a non-profit organization in 1986 by John Stokes, The Tracking Project ® in Corrales, New Mexico, has worked with community educators and Native elders from around the world to design a series of teachings which connect individuals directly to the natural world. Our programs of natural and cultural awareness include a wide range of skills—from traditional tracking and survival skills to music, storytelling, dance, peace- making and martial arts training. The name Arts of Life ® was chosen to describe these programs, which emphasize indigenous knowledge, the lessons of Nature and the power of art.

Since 1986 a team of artist/educators and traditional Native elders from TTP have shared this unique awareness program with more than 100,000 people of all ages. We provide: Arts of Life programs for schools and communities; wilderness camps for youth; tracking/awareness classes for adults; Tracking the Roots of Peace® gatherings. Through Nurturing the Roots (NTR), a community mentor program, our work with the international community now includes partners/programs in Hawai‘i, Brazil, the Philippines, Colombia, Sweden, Spain, Japan and Australia.

Children, the preservation of wildlife, biodiversity and the integrity/vitality of Native cultures in the global indigenous network have been the focus of our work. Our programs actively support cultural survival and community revival.