Thanksgiving for the Americas and Their People

From the Center for the Ministry of Teaching at VIrginia Theological Seminary

Leader: For our ancestors who built nations and cultures; who thrived and prospered long before the coming of strangers; for the forfeit of their lives, their homes, their lands, and their freedoms sacrificed to the rise of new nations and new worlds.

All: We offer a song of honor and thanks.

Leader: For the wealth of our lands; for minerals in the earth; for the plants and waters and animals on the earth; for the birds, the clouds and rain; for the sun and moon in the sky and the gifts they gave to our people that enabled the rise of new world economics.

All: We offer a song of honor and thanks.

Leader: For the many foods coaxed from the heart of Mother Earth; for the skills we were given to develop foods that now belong to the world: potatoes, corn, beans, squash, peanuts, tomatoes, peppers, coffee, cocoa, sugar, and many, many more.

All: We offer a song of honor and thanks.

Leader: For the medicines first discovered by our ancestors and now know to the world: quinine, ipecac, iodine, curare, petroleum jelly, witch hazel, and others; for the healing skills of our people and those who now care for us. For tobacco, sage, sweet grass, and cedar that give spiritual healing by the power of their meaning.

All: We offer a song of honor and thanks.

Leader: For oceans, streams, rivers, lakes, and other waters of our lands that provide bountifully for us; for clams, lobsters, salmon, trout, shrimp, and abalone; for the pathways the waters have provided.

All: We offer a song of honor and thanks.

Leader: For the friendship that first welcomed all to our shores; for the courage of those who watched their worlds change and disappear and for those who led in the search for new lives; for our leaders today who fight with courage and great heart for us.

All: We offer a song of honor and thanks.

Leader: For the friends who suffered with us and stand with us today to help bring the promise and hope that the New World meant to their ancestors.

All: We offer a song of honor and thanks.

Leader: For the strength and beauty of our diverse Native cultures; for the traditions that give structure to our lives, that define who we are; for the skills of our artists and craftspeople and the gifts of their hands.

All: We offer a song of honor and thanks.

Leader: For the spirituality and vision that gave our people the courage and faith to endure; that brought many to an understanding and acceptance of the love of Christ, our Brother and Savior.

All: We offer a song of honor and thanks.

Leader: Accept, O God, Creator, our honor song, and make our hearts thankful for what we have been given. Make us humble for what we have taken. Make us glad as we return some measure of what we have been given. Strengthen our faith and make us strong in the service of our people, in the name of our Brother and Savior, Jesus Christ, your Son, in the power of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

1492-1992: A Celebration of Native American Survival – Earth and All Stars. This litany was prepared for use at a service commemorating the quincentenary of the landing of Christopher Columbus in 1492 with its fateful impact  on the Native American peoples, who despite all have survived to this day. The service was held on October 12, 1992 in the National Cathedral in Washington, D.C. It is taken here from “The Wideness of God’s Mercy: Litanies to Enlarge Our Prayer” edited by Jeffery W. Rowthorn (2007: Church Publishing).

The author of this prayer is Rev. Marsha Woolley, pastor of the Newburg United Methodist Church in Livonia Michigan

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