Chief Seattle, Suquamish Tribe, 19th c.

These are wise words attributed to Chief Seattle about our sacred interdependent Earth Community:

"The President in Washington sends word that he wishes to buy our land.
But how can you buy or sell the sky? The land?
If we do not own the freshness of the air and the sparkle of the water, how can you buy them?...
Every part of this 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 juices in meadow, the body heat of the pony, and man, all belong to the same family...
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...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 all."

Earth is our Home that feeds not just our bodies, but our whole selves: bodies-minds-spirits-imaginations.

We must keep Earth beautiful for all children: human children, fish children, bird children, plant children, etc., so that we can celebrate and thrive together!