In the Prairie State region, harvest is long finished, and stores of animal feed are secured for winter. We are all enjoying spending a little more time with friends and family over the holidays. Even though Thanksgiving has passed, I have always had fond memories of that holiday. It has long been an important holiday for me. Being from a farm, I always appreciated the special connection of recognizing a bountiful harvest and the spirit of getting together to share in the ritual foods.

Our family tradition always included a morning of hunting, and then we came back home to a great meal. Those of us who could still move after we ate would go back out for another round of hunting.

The notion of native people’s contribution to the early settlers’ survival is another part of the Thanksgiving tradition that is important to me. Some of the first Thanksgiving facts may have been lost or embellished over time, but I don’t think there is much dispute that the local American Indians taught the new settlers how to hunt and gather wild food, and how to grow and harvest American crops (the New World’s first agronomists!).

As a USDA employee and a resident of the Land of Lincoln, I have another proud association to the Thanksgiving holiday. The Department of Agriculture was established under the leadership of Abraham Lincoln. And it was President Lincoln who, in remembrance of that spirit of cooperation between our ancestors, established a Thanksgiving holiday for this great nation.

Of course, with Thanksgiving behind us and Christmas before us, we look forward to the tasks and opportunities of 2018. But this, too, is a time of thanks and a time for giving gifts.

Gifts and creators
Many American Indian traditions center around a concept that the Earth is a gift from the creator. Some traditions delve even deeper, saying the Earth is our mother who gave birth to us and who provides for us. In both cases, the expectation is that we give thanks, we appreciate the gift, and we respect it just as we respect our own mother.

As a young boy, I read in the Bible that God created the Earth for mankind, and that mankind literally was created from the earth. It also says we should dress and keep the land, and give thanks for what it provides. In my mind, those two concepts mesh together quite well. It all made perfect sense to me then, and that was when the seeds of a conservationist were sown in my mind and began to grow.

What better way to show appreciation and to give a gift in return than to respect the land by using it for its purpose — our sustenance — but to do it in such a way that we ensure its sustainability? Those concepts still make sense to me today, and maybe even more so as I see my own mother, who has given me so much for so many years, transition to one who now needs to receive the gift of care more than she can give in return.

So as we reflect on another year, let us begin the new work that lies ahead in another cycle of planting and harvesting. But let us continue with a strong commitment of thanks, gift giving and family celebration. I hope we can always take time to remember the great gifts we have been given and never forget how our acts of conservation can be a great gift in return. That kind of gift is one that sustains us and becomes a farm family legacy.

Dozier is the Illinois state conservationist. Direct comments or questions to [email protected].