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THE WEEKEND OUTLOOK Friday June IWl Environment- WSSSMSS Native Indians were environmentally aware By BARBARA The First Environmentalists While the European settlers possessed technology superior to he North American natives they bad no knowledge of the environ ment In fact we have not yet reached the point that the native peoples bad In In the analysis the natives had the knowledge that was most impor tant This letter from Chief Seat- tie to US President Franklin Pierce says It all The Great Chief in Washington sends word that he wishes to buy our land The Great Chief also sends us words of friendship and good will This is kind of him since we know he has tittle need of our friendship in return But we will consider your offer for we know if we do not do so the white man may come with guns and take our land What Chief Sealth says the Great Chief in Washington can count on as truly as our white brother can count on the return of the seasons My words are like the stars they do not set How can you buy or sell the sky the warmth of the land The idea is strange to us Yet we do not own the freshness of the air or the sparkle of the water How can you buy them from us We will decide in our time Every part of this 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 We know that- the white man does not understand our ways One portion of the 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 The earth is not his brother but his enemy and when he has conquered it he moves on He leaves his fathers graves and his childrens birthright is forgotten The sight of your cities pains the eyes of the But perhaps it is because the is a savage and does not unders tand There is no quiet place in the white mans cities No place to hear the leaves of spring or the rustle of insects wings But perhaps because I am a savage and do not understand the clat ter only seems to insult my ears And what is there to life if a man cannot hear the lovely cry of a whipporwill or the arguments of the frogs around a pond at night The Indian prefers the soft sound of the wind darting over the face of the pond and the smell of the wind itself cleansed by a midday rain or scented with a pine The air is precious to the For all things share the same breath the beasts the trees the man The white man does not seem to notice the air he breathes Like a man dying for many days he is numb the stench If I decide to accept I will make one condition The white man must treat the beasts of this land as his brothers I am savage and I do not understand any other way I have seen a thousand rot ting buffaloes on the prairies left by the white man who shot them from a passing train I am a savage and I do not understand how the smoking iron horse can be more important than the buf falo that we kill only to stay alive What is man without the beasts If all the beasts were gone men would die from great loneliness of spirit for whatever happens to the beast also happens to man All things are connected Whatever befalls the earth befalls the sons of the earth Our children have seen their fathers humbled in defeat Our warriors have felt shame And after defeat they tum their days in idleness and contaminate their bodies with sweet food and strong drink It matters little where we pass the rest of our days they are not many A few more hours a few more winters and none of the children of the great tribes that once lived on this earth or that roamed in small bands in the woods will be left to mourn the graves of a people once as power ful and hopeful as yours One thing we know which the white man may one day 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 Body of man And his compassion is equal for the redman and the white This earth is precious to Him And to harm the earth is to heap contempt on its Creator The whites too shall pass perhaps sooner than other tribes Con tinue to contaminate your bed and you will one night suffocate in your own waste When the buf falo are all slaughtered the wild horses all tamed the secret cor ners of the forest heavy with the scent of many men and the view of the ripe hills blotted by talking wires where is the thicket Gone Where is the eagle Gone And what is it to say goodby to the swift and the hunt The end of liv ing and the beginning of survival We might understand if we knew what it was that the white man dreams what hopes he describes to his children on long winter nights what visions he bums into their minds so they will wish for tomorrow But we are savages The white mans dreams are hidden from us And because they are hidden we will go our own way If we agree it will be to secure your reservation you have promised There perhaps we may live out our brief days as we wish When the last redman has vanished from the earth and the memory is only the shadow of a cloud mov ing across the prairie these shores and forest will still hold the spirits of my people for they love this earth as the newborn loves its mothers heartbeat If we sell you our land love it as weve loved it Care for it as weve cared for it Hold in your mind the memory of the land as it is when you take it And with all your strength with all your might and with all your heart preserve it for your children and love it as God loves us all For That Quiet Cosy Dinner Book Today I 8737402 M UK SIS v fey DENTURES FULL DENTURE SERVICES DIRECTLY TO THE PUBLIC New Dentures Repairs Cleaning i Dental Insurance Honoured Wheelchair Accessibility TRENTON The Denture Clinic 1 8 Church St Georgetown Ont 8772359 SUPER SPECIAL HAYDNS Malic Kawai Pianos Lowrey Keyboards Music Books Music Lessons 115 Main St S Beside McCarthys Tea Room 8201