['there is an endless supply of white men, my son,
but there have always been a limited number of human beings']
Thanks for the memory marcos, a lot of truth to the words as they relate to this thread over the years.<ggg>I think the best part in the movie is when Chief Dan says "It's a good day to die" and then goes up the mountain to die and can't make it....I'm just gona hafta see it agin! ...here's some words for you from another Chief.
Chief Seattle, Chief of the Suquamish Indians wrote to
the American Government in the 1800's - In his letter
he gave the most profound understanding of God in all
Things. Here is his letter, which should be instilled in
the hearts and minds of every parent and child in all
the Nations of the World:
CHIEF SEATTLE'S LETTER
"The President in Washington sends word that he wishes to
buy our land. 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?
Every part of the 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 experience of my people.
We know the sap which courses through the trees as we know
the blood that courses through our 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 dew in the meadow, the body heat of the
pony, and man all belong to the same family.
The shining water that moves in the 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 clear waters of the lakes tells of events and
memories in the life of my people. The water's murmur is the
voice of my father's father.
The rivers are our brothers. They quench our thirst. They
carry our canoes and feed our children. So you must give the
rivers the kindness that you would give any brother.
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. So if
we sell our land, you must keep it apart and sacred, as a place
where man can go to taste the wind that is sweetened by the
meadow flowers.
Will you teach your children what we have taught our children?
That the earth is our mother? What befalls the earth befalls all
the sons of the earth.
This we know: 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.
One thing we know: our God is also your God. The earth is
precious to him and to harm the earth is to heap contempt on
its creator.
Your destiny 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 and the view of the ripe hills is blotted
with talking wires? Where will the thicket be? Gone! Where will
the eagle be? Gone! And what is to say goodbye to the swift
pony and then hunt? The end of living and the beginning of
survival.
When the last red man has vanished with this wilderness, and
his memory is only the shadow of a cloud moving across the
prairie, will these shores and forests still be here? Will there be
any of the spirit of my people left?
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 mind the memory of the
land as it is when you receive it. Preserve the land for all
children, and love it, as God loves us.
As we are part of the land, you too are part of the land. This
earth is precious to us. It is also precious to you.
One thing we know - there is only one God. No man, be
he Red man or White man, can be apart. We ARE all
brothers after all." |
