Chief Seattle's letter 1854...

But how can you buy or sell the sky, the land?

The idea is strange to us. If we do not own the freshness of the air and the sparkle of the water, how can you buy them?

"How can you buy the sky?

How can you own the rain and the wind?

My father said to me,

I know the sap that courses through the trees,

as I know the blood that flows through my veins.

We are part of the earth as 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 meadows, the ponies,

all belong to the same family.

The voice of my ancestors said to me,

The shining water that moves in the streams

and rivers is not simply water

but the blood of your grandfather's grandfather.

Each ghostly reflection in the clear waters of the lakes

tells memories in the life of our people.

The water's murmur is the life of your great-great-grandmother.

The rivers are our brothers.

They quench our thirst.

They carry our canoes

and feed our children.

You must give to the rivers the kindness

you would give any brother.

The voice of my grandfather said to me:

The air is precious.

It shares its spirit with all the life it supports.

The wind that gave me my first breath

also receives my last sigh.

You must keep the land and air apart

and sacred as a place where one can go to taste the wind

that is sweetened by the meadow flowers.

The voice of my grandmother said to me:

Teach your children what you have been taught.

The earth is our mother.

What befalls the earth

befalls all the sons and daughters of the earth.

Hear my voice and the voice of my ancestors,

Chief Seattle said.

The destiny of our people 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?

When the view of the ripe hills is blotted by talking wires?

Where will the eagle be?

And what will happen

when we say good-bye to the swift pony and the hunt?

It will be the end of living,

and the beginning of survival.

This we know:

All things are connected like the blood that unites us.

We did not weave the web of life,

we are merely a strand in it.

Whatever we do to the web we do to ourselves.

We love this earth

as a newborn loves its mother's heartbeat.

If we sell our land,

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 and the air

and the rivers for your children's children and

love it as we have loved it."

Note: The oration and the origin of the text maybe controversial, but it doesn’t take away the depth and the value of the meaning.