As we move closer to Thanksgiving day, our shopping list may look something like this;

Turkey-origin; North America
Potatoes- origin; Central & South America
Corn-origin; North America
Yams/sweet potatoes-origin; North, Central, & South America
Squash- origin; North America
Cranberries-origin; North America
Pumpkin-origin; North America
Beets-origin; North America
Sugar-origin; Caribbean & Gulf Islands

This is a fair representation of the basic Thanksgiving meal. So as you sit down to eat your fill, please remember to give thanks to the Indigenous Americans on the North and South American continents who so graciously provided these foods to save the lives of those strangers who landed on our shores 500+ years ago. And maybe you could say a special prayer for the American Indians who are living destitute lives and will not be able to share in this traditional feast day. It would be nice to remembered for all the wonderful contributions and sacrifices our people made to this country.....Nya'weh Gai'wiio....To`na Wanagi

It is good of you my friend to remind others of the truth. And it is good that others see and understand the atrocious behavior of the many who have oppressed and mistreated.the Native Americans. The Native American is one of mankind as all are of mankind. Therefore equal in stature and rights given by God. Unfortunatley a false image has been created by many and the true heart of the Native American is not known by the many. Thank you for presenting the true image of the Native American; the mankind who has been maligned and mistreated so many times by so many. In you is the mind and spirit God has given; you; a Native American. For in God's eyes, there are only His children and the children of the evil one.

In the love of God,

DW Suiter

Have you ever taken into account that most of our foods we feast on now were once foods that were dreamed up by people starving.

Potatoes food for those in Ireland when nothing else would grow and then those too finally quit growing, sweet potatoes were concentration camp food, sugar beets used for marzipan when white sugar was scarce during wars, yes even turkeys were once thought of as vulgar birds unworthy of the kings table. Cranberries if eaten raw are quite nasty and hard it would have taken a lot of experimentation to figure out how to make them just right to eat. There are plenty of other foods that once were eaten only to survive that now are a luxury item on the menu. Take for instance spam and velveta both of those were essentially emergency rations about half a century ago and now are eaten as novelty foods (where some of us that once ate them because that was all there was now get cravings for them every once in a while), I wonder how long before they end up on the feasting table.

But now we prize these foods celebrating the wonderful thing we call life on a day that traditionalists give thanks to their gods for the help that some colonists a few hundred years ago received from a few friendly natives. Lets face it most of us on this rock have no tie to the original pilgrims that came over to this rock to practice their version of a religion; but we celebrate the fact that people already here were willing to give them a hand to survive. Why is it then that we celebrate this?

Perhaps we celebrate the day they are said to have celebrated and feasted with the native people because we recognize that by their survival we have been able to live in a land more free than any in the rest of the world. Just think despite everything that has happened since; the kind act of a few indigenous people is how our nation came to be what it is now. If the first idiots off the boat didn't get taught how to plant the right kind of crops there would not be a USA now.


Thanks to the Native people that helped create this country and have added much to our tables. Perhaps working together into the next few decades we can make the place a nicer place for all of us to live.


By the way I wasn't able to afford a turkey this year and had to eat a roast instead with my family. It was good and the company was fun too. We did splurge on a can of cranberries and someone gave us a can of sweet potatoes . Actually if next year finds us better off financially I think we will do the roast again it was much easier to cook and was the first fresh red meat we have had in nearly 3 weeks. It's not just the natives that are poor anymore.

Thank you Br. Joseph. I am sorry to hear of your own plight. I will keep you in prayer that you will prosper in all the important ways this new year.

When I was homeless and very hungry, (it was the time of the green corn when many American corporations and large farmers cut the corn to turn into silage to feed their cattle and hogs) a truck filled with this corn hit a bump in the road and an ear of green field corn bounced from the cargo. It was manna from heaven for me as I rushed to pick it up, peel back the husk, and ravenously devour the starchy milk and flesh from the ear. I had not eaten in more than 3 days and wandered about in the wilderness seeking out whatever nuts, berries, or grasshoppers I could find to survive. And, as I gave thanks to God for this boon He provided, I remembered back to my childhood when my family of 8 lived in a 12 X 14 tarpaper shack, no water, no electricity, and seldom any food. I used to sit in the dirt and pick up the little black ants to eat and occasionally put a few pebbles in my mouth and swallow them to fill the emptiness inside. From that experience as a small child and that experience as a physically disabled and spiritually/psychologically beaten down poor excuse of a human being, God raised me up and took me out of the wilderness. He will do the same for you. If we just stay true to Him and do as He reveals to us He will be merciful and just. And in the end there will be a powerful lesson and a mighty message to pass along to others.

May you and yours be recipients of His mercy and grace....God's Peace....To`na Wanagi

Thanksgiving Dinner is the one meal that never gets old. I eat it year round, and I always want seconds.