Chief Seattle
Chief Seattle
Chief Seattlewas a Dkhw'Duw'Abshchief. A prominent figure among his people, he pursued a path of accommodation to white settlers, forming a personal relationship with "Doc" Maynard. The city of Seattle, in the U.S. state of Washington, was named after him. A widely publicized speech arguing in favor of ecological responsibility and respect of Native Americans' land rights had been attributed to him. However, what he actually said has been lost through translation and rewriting...
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military land sky
How can you buy or sell the sky, the warmth of the land? ... The end of living and the beginning of survival.
native-american might waste
The whites, too, shall pass - perhaps sooner than other tribes. Continue to contaminate your own bed, and you might suffocate in your own waste.
native-american people world
Let him be just and deal kindly with my people, for the dead are not powerless. Dead, did I say? There is no death, only change of worlds.
life travel men
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.
web-of-life creation
All creation is one. What we do to one, we do to the entire web of life.
talking land wire
When the green hills are covered with talking wires and the wolves no longer sing, what good will the money you paid for our land be then
lonely nature night
What is there to life if a man cannot hear the lonely cry of the whippoorwill or the arguments of the frogs around the pool at night?
rain native-american animal
The Indian prefers the soft sound of the wind darting over the face of the pond, the smell of the wind itself cleansed by a midday rain, or scented with pinon pine. The air is precious to the red man, for all things are the same breath - the animals, the trees, the man.
mother children working-together
We are all children of the Great Spirit, we all belong to Mother Earth. Our planet is in great trouble and if we keep carrying old grudges and do not work together, we will all die.
earth beautiful-earth
We are a part of the earth and it is part of us.
inspiring courage nature
Man does not weave this web of life. He is merely a strand of it. Whatever he does to the web, he does to himself.
men cities dying
Like a man who has been dying for many days, a man in your city is numb to the stench.
spring men white-man
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.
land agriculture earth
Humans merely share the Earth. We can only protect the land, not own it.