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Life Worth Living is an initiative of the Yale Center for Faith & Culture at Yale Divinity School.
Piling Up Greetings & Gratitude: Indigenous Instructions for Living on This Earth / Tom Porter
Tom Porter (Sakokwenionkwas, meaning “The One Who Wins”) is the spokesperson and spiritual leader of the Mohawk Community of Kanatsiohareke (Ga na jo ha lay gay) in the Mohawk Valley near Fonda, New York.
What if gratitude were not a feeling but a daily responsibility?
Listen on
Mohawk elder Tom Porter shares the Haudenosaunee teaching that giving thanks is the original instruction for human life.
Through the practice of “piling up greetings and gratitude,” Mohawk elder Tom Porter describes how people remember their relationship to the Creator, Mother Earth, the waters, animals, winds, and plants. Gratitude becomes a way of restoring balance, honoring interdependence, and remembering our origin so the circle of life remains unbroken for future generations.
Highlights:
“The earth is our mother.”
“We put many thank you's, many greetings.”
“This is the original instruction that I gave humans.”
“Our life will be like a circle that never ends.”
“Mother Earth, thank you.”
Through the practice of “piling up greetings and gratitude,” Mohawk elder Tom Porter describes how people remember their relationship to the Creator, Mother Earth, the waters, animals, winds, and plants. Gratitude becomes a way of restoring balance, honoring interdependence, and remembering our origin so the circle of life remains unbroken for future generations.
Highlights:
“The earth is our mother.”
“We put many thank you's, many greetings.”
“This is the original instruction that I gave humans.”
“Our life will be like a circle that never ends.”
“Mother Earth, thank you.”
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