Gratitude for All Life on Earth
This year, the prayer of Gratitude for All Life on Earth was offered by Hereditary Chief Phil Lane, Jr. of the Ihanktonwan Dakota and Chickasaw Nations in the United States and Canada. He is an internationally recognized leader in human, community, and economic development, who over the past five decades has worked with Indigenous Peoples from many parts of the world. He founded the Four Worlds International Institute, and is also Chairman of Four Directions International and Compassion Games International. He was recognized as a Hereditary Chief in 1992, and has also received multiple awards and recognitions, including being the first indigenous person to win the prestigious Windstar Award.
Hereditary Chief Phil Lane, Jr.
Oh, Creator of the Universe, Most Beloved One, Most Powerful One, Most Kind One, Most Compassionate One, Ever-forgiving One, we give Thanksgiving for all you have given us — the Heavens, the Sun, the Moon, the Clouds, and the Stars.
We give Thanksgiving for all our Ancestors who have made the Path clear for us and who are following with a Spiritual Heart and Mind.
We give Thanksgiving for the great People, the great Relatives, the great Human Beings of Japan, who arose out of the horrors of war and called upon our Human Family, to come to Peace. That Peace may Prevail on Earth, we give Thanksgiving to these Beloved Relatives.
We give Thanksgiving to all the Tribes and Nations of the East, from where comes the Red Sunrise. We give Thanksgiving for all this — Heaven, Earth, Water, the Foods that grow upon Mother Earth — and we are Thankful for that Beautiful Sunrise that greets us with every new Day.
We call upon all those Tribes and Nations of the South, from where comes New Life, that we may all come together in Unity and Harmony and Love.
We give Thanksgiving for the sacred Mountains and all of our Beloved Mother Earth, especially remembering today our Sacred Mountain, Mount Fuji, and the other Sacred Mountains of Japan. For our blessings on this beautiful Day, and all their Sacred Gifts, we give Thanksgiving to all Tribes and Nations of the South. In this beautiful Springtime, in which the Human Family is arising, in one Heart and one Mind, in many Bodies, we give Thanksgiving.
We give Thanksgiving to all the Tribes and Nations of the West, from where comes Thunder, Lightning, and Rain. We give Thanksgiving for all those sacred gifts, especially the Waters that nourish us, the Waters within us, the Waters that bless us — we give Thanksgiving.
We give Thanksgiving to all the Tribes and Nations of the North, from where comes the White Snow and Purifying North Winds, to purify our Hearts and Minds, so that we fully understand the prior Unity and Oneness of our Human Family and all Life, and that the Herd of One is a Herd of All, and the Honor of One is the Honor of All.
We give our Thanksgiving to Father Sky and all the Masculine Dimensions of this Universe. Help us understand what it is to be a good Grandfather, a good Father, a good Brother, a good Husband, a good Friend, a good Uncle, a good Grandson.
Thank you, Creator, for all You’ve given us to help us to end the abuse of Women upon this Mother Earth. May Mankind, the Men of this Earth, rise up and never see another Woman abused. The Eagle of Humanity has Two Wings — one is Woman, one is Man — and until both Wings of that Eagle have equal Power and Respect, the Eagle of Humanity will not arise.
We give Thanksgiving to our Beloved Mother Earth, for all she has given us, especially remembering today our Beloved Mothers and Grandmothers and Aunties and Wives and Friends and Sisters and Cousins and Daughters and Granddaughters. We ask the blessings of Mother Earth upon all Beings, that we understand, we are all One Human Family — that a Herd of One is a Herd of All, and the Honor of One is the Honor of All. We give Thanksgiving.
My names are Shunkmanu and Chanupa Sapa, and I stand responsible before the Creator for my Words and my Actions.
Gratitude for All Life on Earth
(prayed by all participants together)
Thank you, Oceans.
Thank you, Mountains.
Thank you, Earth.
Thank you, Animals.
Thank you, Plants.
Thank you, Minerals.
Thank you, Water.
Thank you, Air.
Thank you, beloved planet Earth.
May Peace Prevail on Earth.