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O'siyo ~
This is page Two of Five~
If you came in on this page,
The President in Washington sends word that he wants to buy our land. But how can you buy or sell the land? The idea is strange to us. If we do not own the presence of the air and the sparkle of the water, how can you buy them?
Every part of this Earth is sacred to my people. Every shining pine needle. Every sandy shore. Every mist in the dark woods. Every meadow. Every humming insect. All are holy in the memory and experience of my people. We know the sap that courses through our veins. We are part of the Earth, and the Earth is part of us. Perfumed flowers are our sisters. The bear, the deer, the great eagle, these are our brothers. The rocky crests, the juices in the meadow, the body heat of the pony, and man, all belong to the same family. The shining water that moves in the streams and rivers is not just water but the blood of our ancestors.
If we sell you our land, remember that the air is precious to us. That the air shares its spirit with all the life that it supports. The wind that gave our Grandfather his first breath also receives his last sigh. The wind also gives our children the spirit of life. So if we sell you our land, you must keep it apart and sacred as a place where man can go to take the wind that is sweetened by the meadow flowers. Will you teach your children what we have taught our children, that the Earth is our Mother? What befalls the Earth befalls all the sons of the Earth.
This we know. The Earth does not belong to man. Man belongs to the Earth. All things are connected like the blood that unites us all. Man did not weave the web of life; he is merely a strand in it. Whatever he does to the web he does to himself.
One thing we know. Our God is also your God. The Earth is precious to Him. And to harm the Earth is to heap contempt on its creator. Your destiny 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 and the view of the rip hills is blotted by talking wires? Where will the thicket be? Gone. Where will the eagle be? Gone. And what is it to say good-bye to the swift pony and the hunt, the end of living and the beginning of survival?
When the last red man has vanished with his wilderness and his memory is only the shadow of a cloud moving across the prairie, will these shores and forests still be here? Will there be any of the spirit of my people left? We love this Earth as a newborn loves its mother''s heartbeat. So, if we sell you our land, love it as we have loved it. 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 for all children, and love it as God loves us all. As we are part of the land, you too are part of the land.
Chief Seattle, Chief of the Suquamish and Duwamish Indians.
"Speech to the governor of Washington Territory"
Speech made by Chief Seattle
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