Thanksgiving is upon us and it seems each year I hear someone politely ask if this day feels like a day to celebrate for Native Americans, too. Yes, we also have plenty to be thankful for.

I know people’s thoughts about the history of Native Americans wonder about the stories, real or exaggerated, of how Indians came to the rescue of the first pilgrims and then the story ironically ends with, “No good deed goes unpunished.”

There seems to me only one way to live our lives, and I mean this for EVERYONE. The only way for us to survive as a species is through cooperation. Sadly, we even struggle with cooperating inside our own heads let alone within our families, neighborhoods, communities, countries, etc. We have become so self-protective that it becomes increasingly more difficult to think about cooperation. We put jobs ahead of family needs even though we work to provide for family. We are so overly protective of our fragile egos that we rush forth mindlessly like bull elk in rut going after that special something or someone who is going to stroke our ego and make us feel brand new while we discard the old and worn. We are on a roller coaster ride of highs and lows. Cooperation has a soothing effect. When we have more people in our orbit who we have compassion for and a desire to work towards a common good instead of being self-serving, we become nurtured at a deeper level. We simply need less.

What this all comes down to is what we focus on grows. As anyone knows who has lived through a tragedy, if we continue to inflict damage upon ourselves by letting our minds revisit the hurt, we are nurturing the memory of the tragedy. Indeed, Native Americans have suffered many losses, but we choose to celebrate Thanksgiving as a time to be grateful for the bounty Mother Earth provides. We are thankful our ancestors survived through the eons and that we are here as a testament to their strength, courage, and resilience.

Featured photo by: Kerstin Wrba