Chief Seattle[1854]We may be Brothers
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Web Publication by Mountain Man Graphics, Australia in the Southern Spring of 1995
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Chief Seattle, 1854.
Chief Seattle's reply, published here in full, to mark World Environment Day tomorrow, has been described as one of the most beautiful and profound statements on the environment ever made:
The white man's dead forget the country of their birth when they go
to walk among the stars.
Our dead never forget this beautiful Earth, for it
is the mother of the red man.
We are part of the Earth and it is part of
us.
The perfumed flowers are our sisters, the deer, the horse, the great
eagle, these are our brothers.
The rocky crests, the juices in the meadows,
the body heat of the pony, and the man, all belong to the same family.
So, when the Great Chief in Washington sends word that he wishes to
buy our land, he asks much of us.
The Great White Chief sends word he will
reserve us a place so that we can live comfortably to ourselves.
He will be
our father and we will be his children.
So we will consider your offer to
buy land.
But it will not be easy.
For this land is sacred to us.
This shining water that moves in streams and rivers is not just water
but the blood of our ancestors.
If we sell you land, you must remember that
it is sacred blood of our ancestors.
If we sell you land, you must remember
that it is sacred, and you must teach your children that it is sacred and
that each ghostly reflection in the clear water of the lakes tells of events
in the life of my people.
The waters murmur is the voice of my father's
father.
The rivers of our brothers they quench our thirst.
The rivers carry
our canoes and feed our children.
If we sell you our land, you must
remember to teach your children that the rivers are our brothers, and yours,
and you must henceforth give the rivers the kindness that you would give my brother.
We know that the white man does not understand our ways.
One portion
of land is the same to him as the next, for he is a stranger who comes in
the night and takes from the land whatever he needs.
The Earth is not his
brother, but his enemy and when he has conquered it, he moves on.
He leaves
his father's graves behind, and he does not care.
He kidnaps the Earth from
his children, and he does not care.
I do not know.
Our ways are different from yours ways.
The sight of
your cities pains the eyes of the red man.
But perhaps it is because the
red man is a savage and does not understand.
There is no quiet place in the white man's cities.
No place to hear
the unfurling of leaves in spring, or the rustle of an insect's wings.
But
perhaps it is because I am a savage and do not understand.
The clatter only
seems to insult the ears.
And what is there to life if a man cannot hear
the lonely cry of a whippoorwill or the arguments of the frogs around a pond
at night.
I am a red man and do not understand.
The Indian prefers the
soft sound of the wind darting over the face of the pond, and the smell of
the wind itself, cleansed by a midday rain, or scented with the pinon pine.
So we will consider your offer to buy our land.
If we decide to
accept, I will make one condition - the white man must treat the beasts of
this land as his brothers.
I am a savage and do not understand any other way.
I have seen a
thousand rotting buffaloes on the prairie, left by the white man who shot
them from a passing train.
I am a savage and do not understand how the
smoking iron horse can be made more important than the buffalo that we kill
only to stay alive.
What is man without the beasts?
If all the beasts were gone, man
would die from a great loneliness of the spirit.
For whatever happens to
the beasts, soon happens to man.
All things are connected.
This we know - the Earth does not belong to man - man belongs to the
Earth.
This we know.
All things are connected like the blood which unites
one family.
All things are connected.
But in your perishing you will shine brightly, fired by the strength
of the God who brought you to this land and for some special purpose gave
you dominion over this land and over the red man.
That destiny is a mystery
to us, for we do not understand when the buffalo are slaughtered, the wild
horses tamed, the secret corners of the forest heavy with scent of many men,
and the view of the ripe hills blotted by talking wires.
Where is the
thicket?
Gone.
Where is the Eagle?
Gone.
The end of living and the
beginning of survival.
The Soul of the Indian An interpretation by Dr Charles Eastman, born Ohiyesa of the Sioux.
The Real Seattle Statement It has been gradually established that the above statement you have just read is in fact a greatly embellished version which has been globally distributed (since the mid 1970's) without publication of the changes made to the original speech of Chief Seattle, of indeed the history of the writing. This second document outlines the history concerning the embellishment, republication and global distribution of the original words of the chief, and finally presents what may be taken as Chief Seattle's original words. While I have always held the above statement to be the words of Chief Seattle, ever since I read them in the Irish Press in 1976, I would like to mention that I find both the accounts of merit, and worth consideration in their own right. The above link will present the view that it was in fact Ted Perry of Middlebury College who largely authored the above text.
Sources on Native Americans and the Environment: - Resources available from Yale University.
Native Web: - reference site based in the UK.
The Emerald Web: - An info-network based in Seattle, Washington, named after "The Chief".
The Weaver: A web publication of merit.
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Chief Seattle[1854]We may be Brothers
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Web Publication by Mountain Man Graphics, Australia in the Southern Spring of 1995
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