Native American Heritage and Gratitude Power Box

1. Adult/Student Goal card

For Adults: Celebrate Native American Heritage Month:

Connect with your family by preparing fry bread and encouraging everyone to share all of the things they are grateful.

Plan a traditional Native American dish for your family to come together.

Coordinate a family trip to a powwow, Native American Cultural Center or Museum and/or library  to read a book by a Native American author.

Model an attitude of gratitude in your own home.

For Students: Celebrate Native American Heritage Month:

Connect with your family by preparing fry bread and sharing what you are grateful for in life. Help prepare a traditional Native American dish. Attend powwow, visit a Native American Cultural Center or Museum and/or read a book by a Native American author.

Participate in a 30 day gratitude challenge (Psst! no excuses…we’ve included a journal and pencils).

Write a note of gratitude to someone (yep, we have you covered on that one too!)

2. Infographic

November is Native American Heritage Month and our infographic recognizes those who identify as American Indian and Alaska Native, the indigenous spoken languages and those who served in the Armed Forces. Clearly, we are still here!

We’re  honoring American Indian and Alaska Natives (AI/AN) distinct traditions and culture. One longstanding tradition among most Native people is gratitude. The infographic highlights the benefits of gratitude and serves as inspiration to this month’s activities.

3. Fry Bread Mix

The enjoyment of indigenous cuisine should be a part of any Native American celebration. For Native American communities, it wasn’t just the process of preparing food. It afforded them the time to connect and bond as a family, to share in the history and pass down traditions. Today and every day, it is important our student’s families do the same. We encourage preparation of a traditional dish to celebrate, either from a family recipe or our version of Three Sisters Soup recipe.

We provide each family with fry bread mix to enjoy too. It is perfect with our soup recipe, but add honey for a delicious dessert. It truly is a sweet reminder of the resourcefulness and resiliency of the Native American people.

4. Three Sisters Soup Recipe and Life Lesson

Three Sisters Soup is an indigenous cuisine in most Native American communities, but preparation can be as unique as the tribes themselves. We have included our hearty recipe of Three Sisters Soup.

While enjoying dinner, families have an opportunity to learn why it’s called “Three Sisters Soup” and the lesson in life the “Three Sisters” teaches us today.

5. Gratitude Activities

As part of celebrating Native American Heritage Month, we are recognizing the longstanding tradition of practicing gratitude in our daily lives.

We are providing students with three gratitude activities: Gratitude Mapping, Giving Handwritten Notecards and 30 Day Gratitude Journal Challenge.

The first of these activities, Gratitude Mapping, is located on the back side of the card. The student writes in the circles the names of people, places and things they are most grateful for in their life currently. The student can further the activity by coloring the circles slowly, focusing on each person, place and thing. We encourage students pay attention to their breathing too by inhaling and exhaling with each circle. A simple activity to reduce stress and increase happiness.

6. Gratitude Notecards

We love handwritten notes…which is why we included two notecards for our second gratitude activity! Students can color and write a note of gratitude to at least two people from the Gratitude Mapping activity. It is a simple yet impactful way to show appreciation to the people they are most grateful for in their life.

This activity can make a world of difference for someone and at the same time be fulfilling and rewarding for yourself as well.

7. Gratitude Journal

Our third gratitude activity involves a 30 day gratitude challenge. We understand each student expresses themselves differently, so we encourage students to write and/or draw what they are most grateful for each day using the provided journal and colored pencils. Journals should provide a positive reflection of a student’s day as a reminder on more difficult days of all they have to be grateful. For a list of gratitude journal prompts, visit our journal page.