Traditional Mohawk Thanksgiving Address

The Mohawk Thanksgiving Address is a prayer of gratitude with a long history within the Mohawk Nation that predates the Thanksgiving holiday in the United States.

It is a beautiful prayer that unifies those who are participating in it. The prayer offers love and gratitude to the natural forces and living beings. "...and now our minds are one", gives a good  indication to the beauty and grace within the Thanksgiving address.

The Address is given at the beginning of any gathering of people.  It can be as short as an hour or as long as several days depending on how many forces of nature and living

beings are being thanked. This evening's Address will last about an hour and will be conducted in Mohawk and English.

Sosakete, also known as Roger Perkins, is a Bear Clan Mohawk artist and  traditionalist from Akwesasne.  We are very lucky to have him as a local resident. He  currently lives in the East Bay with his wife and children.  He is an award-winning potter and artist whose work can be  seen at  Gathering Tribes and at  the 4th Street   Studios in Berkeley.

Please join us as we "bundle our love and gratitude" and send it "with our minds as one" to the living forces around us.