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1 " My people are few. They resemble the scattering trees of a storm-swept plain...There was a time when our people covered the land as the waves of a wind-ruffled sea cover its shell-paved floor, but that time long since passed away with the greatness of tribes that are now but a mournful memory. "
― Chief Seattle , The Chief Seattle's Speech (1854)
2 " 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. This we know. All things are connected like the blood that unites one's family. All things are connected. "
― Chief Seattle
3 " The white man will never be alone. Let him be just, and deal kindly with my people. For the dead are not powerless. "
4 " Humankind has not woven the web of life. We are but one thread within it. Whatever we do to the web, we do to ourselves. All things are bound together. All things connect. "
5 " Like a man who has been dying for many days, a man in your city is numb to the stench. "
6 " What is man without the beasts? If all the beasts were gone, man would die from a great loneliness of spirit. For whatever happens to the beasts, soon happens to man. All things are connected. "
7 " All things share the same breath - the beast, the tree, the man. The air shares its spirit with all the life it supports. "
8 " 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 "
9 " When the Earth is sick, the animals will begin to disappear, when that happens, The Warriors of the Rainbow will come to save them. "
10 " Man did not weave the web of life, he is merely a strand in it. Whatever he doesto the web, he does to himself. "
11 " There is no death. Only a change of worlds. "
12 " Humankind has not woven the web of life. We are but one thread within it. Whatever we do to the web, we do to ourselves. All things are bound together. All things connect."-- Chief Seattle, Duwamish "
13 " And when the last red man shall have perished from the earth and his memory among white men shall have become a myth, these shores shall swarm with the invisible dead of my tribe, and when your children's children shall think themselves alone in the field, the store, the shop, upon the highway or in the silence of the woods they will not be alone. In all the earth there is no place dedicated to solitude. At night, when the streets of your cities and villages shall be silent and you think them deserted, they will throng with the returning hosts that once filled and still love this beautiful land. The white man will never be alone. Let him be just and deal kindly with my people, for the dead are not altogether powerless. "
14 " We do not weave the web of life, we are merely a strand in it.Whatever we do to the web, we do to ourselves. "
15 " Teach your children what we have taught our children: that the earth is our mother. Whatever befalls the earth, befalls the children of the earth. If we spit upon the ground we spit upon ourselves. This we know. The earth does not belong to us; we belong to the earth. One thing we know which the white man may one discover, our god is the same god. You may think now that you own him as you wish to own our land; but you cannot. He is the god of all people. And compassion is equal for all. this earth is precious to god, and to harm the earth is to heap contempt on the creator. So love it as we have loved it. care for it as we have cared for it. and with all your mind, with all your heart, preserve it for our children and love as god loves us all. "
16 " My words are like the stars that never change. "
17 " ...At night when the streets of your towns and cities are quiet, and you think them empty, they will throng with the spirits that once thronged them, and still love those places.The white man will never be alone.So let him be just and deal kindly with my people.The dead have power too. "
18 " How can you buy the sky? Chief Seattle began.How can you own the rain and the wind?My mother told me,Every part of this earth is sacred to our people.Every pine needle. Every sandy shore.Every mist in the dark woods.Every meadow and humming insect.All are holy in the memory of our people. "
― Chief Seattle , Brother Eagle, Sister Sky
19 " How can you buy the sky? Chief Seattle began.How can you own the rain and the wind? "
20 " My father said to me,I know the sap that courses through the treesas I know the blood that flows in my veins.We are 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 meadows,the ponies--all belong to the same family. "
