The Native American Give Away and How I Used It In My Own Life
I was raised on a reservation in Arizona and saw give-aways first hand. I remember one at a young girl’s coming out ceremony where the give away was so lavish, it was astonishing.
The give away is often a way to honor someone, but the tradition is the opposite of many other cultures and traditions. Instead of giving gifts to the person being honored, they and their family give gifts to the people who attend.
At the coming out ceremony I mentioned, there were two long lines piled with give-away gifts. There were beautiful woven burden baskets filled with food, piles of Pendleton blankets and so much more. As a young teen, I was awed at the generosity that was shown.
Dozens of years later I went to a powwow in Oregon where I now live and witnessed a give-away done by the widow of a man who had died the year before. She had spent the entire year making things to give away in her husband’s honor. She had made quilts, beaded buckskin bags, beautiful dentilium and abalone necklaces and crocheted medicine bags along with dozens of other items. She gifted some of the bigger items to specific people who were part of her family or support community and the smaller items were for everyone else. There were at least 100 people there and I think each one of us received something.