My relatives, on this Thanksgiving Day, as many pause to express gratitude, I would like to share a profound understanding among our Dakota people. Every day is meant to be a day of thanksgiving. Every sunrise invites us into Wopida Tanka, a Great Thanksgiving, not once a year, but as a living, breathing way of life. Wopida Tanka is more than a phrase from our language. It is a sacred state of consciousness, a spiritual vibration that opens a doorway into a way of being that honors all life, all peoples, and all the unseen powers that guide our journey.
I first came to understand the true meaning of Wopida Tanka, great thanksgiving, more than fifty years ago, in March of 1972, when I received word in San Diego that my father had suffered a sudden and severe heart attack. In that moment, I feared he had already walked on to what he always called the “Other Side Camp,” the sacred spiritual realm where our loved ones continue their journey.
When I arrived at his bedside, he was surrounded by medical machinery, including a tube down his throat, and unable to speak. His life rested in a delicate balance. Yet when our eyes met, I saw a fire still burning, the unmistakable spark of life, purpose, and determination. He was not leaving us yet. As he always promised, he would “stick around to see how everything turned out,” and he remained with us for another 32 years (03/29/2004). That moment of relief, of gratitude, of thanksgiving, is something I will carry for all the days of my life.
When he was strong enough to travel, I knew it was my sacred responsibility to honor his recovery and give thanks. I called my Lala, my grandfather, Vine Deloria Sr., in South Dakota, my Elder Advisor, and my father’s close relative. I asked him how to express gratitude in a way worthy of such a moment.
With the humility and clarity that marked all his teachings, he told me that one of the most significant ways to give thanksgiving among our people is simple: “Feed the people.” He encouraged me to hold a Wopida Ceremony, a ceremony of the Great Thanksgiving.
Without telling my parents, I flew Grandfather Ne Sr. to San Diego to help me prepare for this sacred celebration and to surprise my father and mother. With the support of the sisters, their children, and the staff at the American Indian Career Center, we held a powerful Wopida Ceremony in support of my father’s recovery. After the meal, Lala stood and spoke deeply of the meaning of Wopida Tanka. His teachings that day settled into the inmost chambers of my heart like an eternal fire, and they blaze within me still.
Our Elders teach that certain Dakota words do not simply describe something. They open a world rooted in our Dakota spiritual values, such as respect, humility, and harmony. They awaken a way of walking that embodies these sacred principles.
Wopida Tanka is such a word. It is not merely an expression spoken after receiving a gift. It is a lifelong way of living that invites us to practice gratitude daily, nurturing a spiritual consciousness that guides our thoughts, words, and actions.
Wopida Tanka honors the entire web of relationships that sustains our lives: the waters that carry the memory of creation, the winds that carry our prayers, the trees that purify our breath, our animal relatives who teach us many things, the ancestors whose love holds us upright, and all members of the Human Family who share this world with us.
When we live in the spirit of Wopida Tanka, we come into right relationship with all life through daily acts of kindness, humility, and respect, allowing this sacred practice to transform our hearts and deepen our spiritual connection.
Our Elders say: “All life is a gift of the Great Spirit. Even our hardships are teachers. Give thanksgiving for all things.”
When we truly embrace this understanding, the human heart is transformed. Fear loosens its grip, and hope begins to grow, making space for healing and renewal in our lives.
A heart living in thanksgiving becomes a wellspring of compassion, forgiveness, humility, humor, and wisdom. Through Wopida Tanka, we rediscover who we truly are, children of the Great Spirit, relatives to all that breathes, kin to both the seen and unseen worlds.
To live in a state of Great Thanksgiving is not just a spiritual idea; it is a daily practice that can be as simple as offering a kind word, sharing a meal, or listening deeply to others, embodying gratitude through our actions, and making thanksgiving a living, breathing part of our lives.
It is a sacred responsibility. Living in gratitude calls us to walk with honesty, compassion, respect, love, and harmony — not for ourselves alone, but for all our relations and future generations.
This way of life rests upon a teaching older than the mountains:
“The hurt of one is the hurt of all. The honor of one is the honor of all.”
When we carry Wopida Tanka in our hearts, our presence becomes medicine. The way we speak, the way we listen, the way we walk, all become prayers for healing and unity.
And so, on this Thanksgiving Day, I invite us to see that Wopida Tanka is a way of being meant for every day, not just a holiday. When gratitude guides our choices, hope and healing become possible in our lives and communities.
This is not a distant dream. It is the natural result of living Wopida Tanka. When thanksgiving becomes our daily compass, the world begins to heal.
My Beloved Relatives, may every human heart rediscover this ancient truth. May the spirit of thanksgiving rise like a dawn across Mother Earth. May gratitude become the drumbeat that unites all peoples and nations. And may we remember that the Creator, the Maker of All Good Things, has never stopped blessing us. We have only needed to open our eyes.
Wopida Tanka to All, now and forever.
Mitakuye Oyasin — All My Relations.
Lala, Ate, Deksi, and Brother Phil
