THIS EARTH IS PRECIOUS – Thought to be part of a speech by “Chief Seattle” 1854

Whether these words are actually from a speech by Chief Seattle or not is of no consequence. The meaning behind the words is as powerful and valid today as it was in 1854. I wonder if humanity will ever listen to the call for help from Mother Nature and the Earth …or will we wait until it’s too late to make sustainable changes.

Every part of the earth is sacred to my people.

Every shining pine needle, every sandy shore, every mist in the dark woods, every clearing and humming insect is holy in the memory and experience of my people. The sap which courses through the trees carries the memories of the red man. The rivers are our brothers, they quench our thirst. The rivers carry our canoes, and feed our children.

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 man…all belong to the same family.

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.

Teach your children what we have taught our children, that the earth is our mother. Whatever befalls the earth befalls the sons of the earth. If men spit upon the ground, they spit upon themselves. This we know. The earth does not belong to man; man belongs to the earth. All things are connected.

Nature’s Creation – Knowledge & Guidance through Healing