Dancing the Dream…
The Holy Eucharist • A Litany of Thanksgiving

Alternative

Leader For our ancestors who built nations and cultures; who thrived and prospered
here long before the coming of strangers; for the forfeit of their lives, their homes,
their lands, and their freedoms sacrificed to the rise of new nations and new
worlds.

All We offer a song of honour and thanks.

Leader For the wealth of this land; for the minerals in the earth; for the plants and waters
and animals on the earth; for the birds, the clouds and rain; for the sun and moon
in the sky and the gifts they gave to our peoples that enabled the rise of new
world economies.

All We offer a song of honour and thanks.

Leader For the many foods, coaxed from the heart of Mother Earth; for the skills we
were given to develop foods that now belong to the world: potatoes, corn, beans,
squash, peanuts, tomatoes, peppers, coffee, cocoa, sugar and many more.

All We offer a song of honour and thanks.

Leader For the medicines first discovered by our ancestors now known to the world:
quinine, ipecac, iodine, curare, petroleum jelly, witch hazel and others; for the
healing skills of our people and those who now care for us. For tobacco, sage,
sweet grass and cedar that give spiritual healing by the power of their meaning.

All We offer a song of honour and thanks.

Leader For the friendship that first welcomed all to our shores; for the courage of those
who watched their worlds change and disappear and those who led in the search
for new lives; for our leaders today who fight with courage and great heart for
us.

All We offer a song of honour and thanks.

Leader For the friends who suffered with us and stand with us today to bring the
promise and the hope that the New World meant to their ancestors.

All We offer a song of honour and thanks.

Leader For the strength and beauty of our diverse Native cultures; for the traditions that
give structure and meaning to our lives, that define who we are; for the skills of
our artists and crafts people and the gifts of their hands.

All We offer a song of honour and thanks.

Leader For the spirituality and vision that gave our people the courage and faith to
endure; that brought many to an understanding and acceptance of the love that
Christ, our Brother and Saviour, brought to us.

All We offer a song of honour and thanks.

Celebrant Accept, O God, Creator, our honour song, and make our hearts thankful for what
we have been given. Make our hearts humble for what we have taken. Make our
hearts glad as we return some measure of what we have been given. Strengthen
our faith and make our hearts strong in the service of our people, in the name of
our Brother and Saviour, Jesus Christ, your Son, and in the power of the Holy
Spirit.

All Amen

Celebrant The peace of the Lord be always with you.

All And also with you.

Prayer over the Gifts