Show thanksgiving HANKS A fa k J T jj G GIVING I 1 tag an n old indian indians custom cus ac I 1 orn ar A wit 0 4 44 1 indian ian dance at taos during a festival by EDITHA L WATSON on the edge of I 1 is lit tie tle cornfield the hopi farmer looks at his crop and smiles ils ills lips move and gentle words come from them words which carry so much of heart that we might guess their meaning from the warmth with which they are uttered and know because they are spoken softly as well as earnestly that they were addressed to those above whom we call the almighty kwa awl kwa kwi is what the hopi says thanks thanks I 1 and in these words he ex presses one of the most characteristic of in dian dlan customs that of giving thanks on every occasion and no matter how slight the pretext re lne may smile at the thought of uttering thanks for the presence of a visitor that his health Is good it if a child who has fallen and hurt itself slightly begin to smile again if rain comes for any or all of the small matters which fill every day yet we ve who pride our selves on our manners and who are prompt to acknowledge the slightest favor from a fellow human cannot help but admire the et etiquette uette which calls for acknowledgment to god also and when we realize that all these seemingly slight events are beyond the unaided power of man to bring about we nie feel that we me have been ungrateful to take so much for granted without bothering to acknowledge the source not content with unending ng thankfulness the indians also said grace sometimes both before and after meals to the i words of the little prayer were nere added an offering of fo food d which Is was cast into the fire as the grace was spoken receive oh source of my ancestry and eat said the zuni as he performed the rite spirit part partake akel 1 murmured the dakota woman and her husband echoed the whispered prayer and offering of gratitude in the pueblo land no cooking was under tak tal en without an offering A pinch of meal pre ceded the bread into the oven a b t of each eort sort of food was placed in the fire with a R thought of thanksgiving for past and future before meals the smallest children had their hands guided in this little ceremony for the spirit of gratitude to those above for every thing and for food above all was strong in ev ery indian heart clothing they could skimp if necessary shelter they could do without but life itself depended on food and they were grateful for it it Is strange how nearly the grace before meals of white men and red coincide both ex press thanks the white man by words the in dian than by his offering of food as m well ell and both ak blessings to come A zuni grace runs as follows makers of the trails of our lives and ye pints of our ancestors of this add ye unto bour a hearts after the manner of your own knowledge and bless us with fruitful seasons needed water and age of life it must have been a very lovely world in which the ancient red men lived there were nil all the beauties of untouched nature to behold there were tasks to keep the hands busy and I 1 to occupy the heart and mind the navaho prater make beautiful all that Is before me make beamut ful all that Is behind me it Is done in beauty was answered daily to all the tribes and out of tl is serene beauty of their earth mother there grew a very strong rel gion the essence of which was thanksgiving there Is a beautiful tewa ceremony which about harvest time that of g ving the perfect seeds in charge and allowing the earth mother to rest for a while the finest seeds of nil all sorts are searched out by tl e rossa a sum mer priesthood and a few of each kind are sanctified guarded and planted about ten days before the rest of the crop Is put in in the tall fall the perfect seeds of these selected plants are gathered and at the on of a feast of thanksgiving the rossa give them to the Qu arrano a winter priesthood to guard until the next planting time at this time out of gratitude to the earth mother strong medicine is made that she may sleep after all her toll all spring and summer she has given of her flesh in all forms of na ture to her children surely she Is tired and needs to rest the fe feasting astin is done the next year s seeds laid by and now comes a period in which the grateful ind an people keep quiet making no noise that that beloved mother may sleep no loud talking is allo allowed ed in tewa towns and every noise is hushed until she has had her rest here Is true thanksgiving primi tive five naturally but sincere and expressed in terms of humankind the dances and ceremonies which preceded various feasts were something I 1 ke an enlarge ment of the grace before meals harvest time meant happiness and it also brought with it the obligation of giving thanks so by combining the celebrations with rites the indian enjoyed both M I 1 the governor of pueblo T g za N 8 inside the I 1 ii eblo JI A group of santa clara clam pueblo indians and did not neglect either there Is a little cherokee Ch eroLee tale which illustrates the custom of celebrating before feasting seven wolves went out hunting and caught a fat groundhog their prey considering pat that with presence of mind there might be a chance for absence of body reminded them that peo pie always danced for gratitude when they had something good to eat giving the green corn dance as an example he urged the wolves to do likewise and offered to teach them steps and to sing for them the wolves although they were very hungry eagerly agreed to hold this dance of thanksgiving and during their celebia tion the groundhog escaped the green corn dance to which the animal alluded Is one of the favorites among ind an ceremonies of thanksgiving although it Is held at the time of green corn late summer among the creeks this festival was the on of for gi veness when injury and hatred were forgot ten the ceremonies listed lasted from four to eight days and were marked by rejoicing over the first fruits of the year the pueblos also hold a green corn festival beautiful and symbol cal a sort of grace be he fore the harvest then later in the year about the time of our own athani day there are fire harvest festivals when the prayers of gratt tude rise endlessly to those above as the hap py people celebrate with ceremony ce and fea feasting sting the g ats which the earth mother has besto bestowed wed in one anc ent pueblo dance great trays full of the finest vegetables bread and meats were thrown about and trampled into the earth form ing a great offering to express the athani s of the people although shelter and clothing are as asi im to us as food we have not teft left off tl e age old association of food with celebration indeed ving day centers around the dinner table at first a fast day the early american colonists gradually assimilated the old ind an customs and today the annual feist of gratitude Is a real amerian Amerl cin institution ailenee it seems ill the more fitting that most of the d ashes which are trad donal to the day should be those which the indians themselves enjoyed and celebrated in the eating first of all there Is that grand american bird the turl ey nothing like him was ever seen before ind tl e new nen comers thought that he must be some relation to the peacock as he strutted in his ri descent finery I 1 perhaps there Is noth ng more delicious than oung v lid ild turkey fed on p non nuts wh ch eh the ind ans of the southwest knew with this noble b rd always go potatoes an american product which the na tives enjoyed long before the coming of colum bus in fact in those pre discovery days america furnished some of the choicest and most palatable foods which we know of some of them grew also in the eastern hemisphere but many were d and distinctively american the indians had real cause for thanksgiving in the variety and tastiness of the food true there was no beef but buffalo humps were a delicacy which has been celebrated in every history of early americans and ribs juicy and tender roasted over coals would rival the famous cookery of the old world yet requiring no othor other sauce than hunger but do not th that hunger was the feces sary ingie dent ent of an indian meal cooking was not the haphazard operation we might be lieve it to have been there were fifty three ways of preparing corn and we should offer thanks on our own accounts for this ind an food as we eat succotash hominy and other corn dishes prepared long before our time by the savages of america there were deer and mountain sheep for a change from buffalo and fish from the many streams and ducks and other birds were numer ous and varied so that no one need live on turkey the great kitchen biddens found along the coast prove that oysters were vere a greatly enjoyed ind in an food and turtles also helped in the menu while we are hunting for ind an dishes to place on tl ti e thail shining d liner table we may give thought to the appropriate beverage for this truly american meal of course the average man will demand coffee which Is not a native drink but mate which has a h gh caffeine con tent would be the nearest drink of the sort teas made from dried flowers or flavorous twigs and roots would be truly indian decoctions but scarcely enjoyable to our tra ned palates win the apache beer anide ft S f sprouted corn would be appropriate but it is alcoa ol 01 c 0 a con sid erable degree the only real ind an beverage which appeals to modern tastes is chocolate favorite dr nl of the aztec kings after dinner in thit hour wl en it is too early for the foothill foot bill game and eiery one is too contentedly filed to care about exertion any way the air begins to grow hazy w th tobacco smoke here too Is an old indian custom closely assoc abed with the giving of thanks few tribes used tobacco to smoke as we do rather it carried mes messages siges to the gods in its clouds of smoke tl TI e p pe was presented or the smoke blown to the four world quarters above and below to symbolize ive the offering of prayer in all d ons it was ras puffed during caremon es and at councils the chippewa and many other tribes use tobacco as a thank offer ng when they cut a birch tree for its birk they bury a little tobacco at the roots giving thinks thanks as they do so the pueblos tie small parcels of tobacco to their prayer sticks and the tr bes which hive do dog killing ceremonies fasten bundles of tobacco to the legs and neck of the sacrificed animals bidd ng them to carry these to the spirit land with them there to present them with prayers for health and plenty for the tribe little of that ancient gratitude Is left and we in our hard modern shells celebrate the day of thanksgiving by feasting without ceremony yet tn in our hearts we have stud ed the question what are we thankful for and find many things which made us glad to be alive among amon g them perhaps the fact that we are not in d ans we owe acknowledgment to providence that much is certain and because we after all are a thoughtful and a courteous people some time during thanksgiving day we will echo in our hearts the words said by our predecessors cen tunes ago thanks that it Is so by western newspaper union |