THE
WEB OF LIFE
By Chief
Seattle
Nearly 150 years ago, Chief
Seattle, a wise and widely respected native Red Indian Chief delivered this
compelling message to the government in Washington, which wanted to buy his
peoples land. This is perhaps the most eloquent statement ever made on the
environment.
How can you buy the sky? Chief Seattle began.
How can you own the rain and the wind?
My mother told me,
Every
part of this earth is sacred to our people.
Every pine needle.
Every sandy shore.
Every
mist in the dark woods.
Every
meadow and humming insect.
All are holy in the memory of our people.
My father said to me,
As I know the blood that flows in my veins.
We are part of the earth and
it is part of us.
The perfumed flowers are
our sisters.
The bear, the deer, the great eagle, these are our
brothers
The rocky crests, the
meadows,
The ponies - all belong to the same family.
The voice of my ancestors said
to me,
The shining water that moves
in the rivers and streams,
Is not simply water, but the
blood of your grandfather’s grandfather.
Each
ghostly reflection in the clear waters of the lakes tell
Of memories in the life
of our people.
The water's murmur is the
voice of your great - great grandmother.
The
rivers are our brothers. They quench our thirst.
They carry our canoes
and feed our children.
You must give to the rivers
the kindness you would give to any brother.
The voice of my grandfather
said to me
The air is precious. It shares
its spirit with all the life it supports.
The wind that gives me my
first breath also receives my last sigh.
You
must keep the land and air apart and sacred, as a place where one can go to
taste the wind that is sweetened by the meadow flowers.
When the last Red Man and Woman have vanished with their
wilderness
And
their memory is only the shadow of a cloud moving across the prairie, will the
shore and forest still be there?
Will
there be any of the spirit of my people left?
My
ancestors said to me. This we know:
The earth does not belong to us.
We belong to the earth.
The voice of my grandmother said to me,
Teach your children what you
have been taught.
The
earth is our mother.
What befalls the earth befalls
all the sons and daughters of the earth.
Hear my voice and the voice of my ancestors, Chief
Seattle said.
The destiny of your people is a mystery to us.
What will happen when the
buffalo are all slaughtered?
The
wild horses tamed?
What will happen when the
secret corners of the forest are heavy with the scent of many men?
When
the view of the ripe hills is blotted by talking wires?
Where will the thicket
be? Gone!
Where will the eagle be? Gone!
And what will happen when we say goodbye to the swift
pony and the Bull?
It will be the end of living and the beginning of
survival.
This we all know: All things are connected like the
blood that unites us.
We did
not weave the web of life.
We are
merely a strand in it.
Whatever we do to the web, we do to ourselves.
We love this earth as a newborn loves its mother’s
heartbeat.
If we
sell you the land, care for it as we have cared for it.
Hold
in your mind the memory of the land, as it is when you receive it.
Preserve the land and the air
and the rivers for your
children's children and love
it as we have loved it
-~P
ci-~3~,~F