Chief letter to President Pierce
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Your President in Washington
sends word that he wishes to buy our land
But how can you buy or sell the sky?
the land?
this idea is strange to us
If we do not own the freshness of the air or the sparkle of the water, then
how can you buy them?
Each 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 experiences of my people
We know the sap that courses through the trees as we know the blood that courses through our veins
We are a 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 dew in the meadow, the body heat of the pony
and the human all belong to the same family.
The shining water that moves in from streams and rivers is not just water
but the blood of our ancestors.
If we sell you our land, you must remember that it is sacred
Each glossy reflection in the lake tells of memories in the life of my people
So you must give the rivers the kindness that you would give any brother or sister
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 received his last sigh
The wind also gives our children the spirit of life
Will you teach your children what we have taught our children?
That the earth is our mother?
What befalls the earth befalls all the ones of the earth
This we know
the earth does not belong to us, we belongs to the earth
All things are connected like the blood that unites us all
The human did not weave the web of life, we are merely a strand of it
Whatever we do to the earth, we do to ourselves.
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 memory 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 a part of the land
As the earth is precious to us, so it must be precious to you.
One thing we know
there is only one God
We are brothers and sisters
children of our mother earth
after all