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11 August 2011
With the proposal once again by some mining companies to extract the richness of our beloved island of Catanduanes I am reminded of the American Suquamish Indian Tribe Chief Seattle's letter to the American Government in the 1800s. Here's part of his letter:
"Every part of the earth is sacred to my people: every shining pine needle, every sandy shore, and every mist in the dark woods, every meadow, and 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... 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...
[The] air is precious to us...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... [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...
What will happen when the buffalo are 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 the hunt? It's 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... 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 can be apart. We are all brothers after all." (Source: www.barefootworld.net/seattle.html) (For comments/reactions txt Sniper@09067204747)
