Tribal Members Deliver First Ever Land Acknowledgment at Macy’s Parade

The 2020 Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade featured a land acknowledgment, traditional rattle song, and blessing to honor the Wampanoag and Lenape people. Mashpee Wampanoag tribal members Annawon and Councilman Brian Weeden provided a blessing in Wôpanâôt8âôk and performed a ceremonial rattle song.

The Wampanoag blessing, which was written and shared with us by Siobhan Brown of the Wampanoag Language Reclamation Project and assisted by Vice Chairwoman Jessie little doe Baird, aired exclusively in the Wampanoag language, but translates to the following in English: “Creator and Ancestors, we honor you for all things. We honor the Lenape people of Manahatta. We honor all our relations because, long ago, we were here. Now we are here and we will always be here. And so it is.”