I LOVE this letter from Chief Seattle, the thought that we are all strands in the Web of Life (see below) is profound. Often humans think they are the center of the universe and that nature is there for our USAGE and the taking. In the BIG PICTURE, we are no more important than any other creature on this Earth!
Many of the threads in the web are broken...we need you to be the Spider Man and help mend those severed strands! One of the most amazing nursery rhymes is Itsy Bitsy Spider. That little spider is SO persistent; he keeps trying and climbing up to his goal no matter what happens! We need to be like that spider to heal this planet.
EXCERPTS from CHIEF SEATTLE'S LETTER
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 (and daughters) 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!
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 ripe hills is blotted with talking wires? Where will the thicket be? Gone! Where will the Eagle be? Gone!
When the last red man has vanished with this wilderness, and his memory is only the shadow of a cloud moving across the prairie, will these shores and forest 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 we are part of the land, you too are part of the land. This Earth is precious to us, It is also precious to you. One thing we know, no man, be he Red Man or White Man, can be apart. We are ALL brothers after all.
Sincerely,
One Worried Mom
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