Chief Seattle
Chief Seattle
Chief Seattlewas a Dkhw'Duw'Abshchief. A prominent figure among his people, he pursued a path of accommodation to white settlers, forming a personal relationship with "Doc" Maynard. The city of Seattle, in the U.S. state of Washington, was named after him. A widely publicized speech arguing in favor of ecological responsibility and respect of Native Americans' land rights had been attributed to him. However, what he actually said has been lost through translation and rewriting...
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brother decay may
I will not dwell on, nor mourn over, our untimely decay, nor reproach my paleface brothers with hastening it, as we too may have been somewhat to blame.
native-american people earth
Every part of the earth is sacred to my people.
father voice water
The water's murmur is the voice of my father's father.
men doe earth
Man belongs to the Earth, Earth does not belong to man
native-american heart earth
Your religion was written on tablets of stone, ours on our hearts. 8. We are part of the earth and the earth is part of us.
regret native-american sea
Tribe follows tribe, nations follow nations like the tides of the sea. It is the order of nature, and regret is useless.
strong children hate
Your God loves your people and hates mine; he folds his strong arms lovingly around the white man and leads him as a father leads his infant son, but he has forsaken his red children; he makes your people wax strong every day, and soon they will fill the land; while my people are ebbing away like a fast-receding tide, that will never flow again. The white man's God cannot love his red children or he would protect them. They seem to be orphans who can look nowhere for help.
loneliness men gone
What is man without the beasts? If all the beasts were gone, men would die from great loneliness of spirit
ashes sacred native-american-indian
To us, the ashes of our ancestors are sacred and their resting place is hallowed ground.
native-american web-of-life earth-day
All things are bound together. All things connect.
native-american air water
We do not own the freshness of the air or the sparkle of the water. How can you buy them from us?
mother son men
The earth is our mother. Whatever befalls the earth befalls the sons of earth. If men spit upon the ground, they spit upon themselves.
regret destiny men
Tribe follows tribe, and nation follows nation, like the waves of the sea. It is the order of nature, and regret is useless. Your time of decay may be distant, but it will surely come, for even the White Man ... cannot be exempt from the common destiny.
dream native-american heart
Our religion is the traditions of our ancestors - the dreams of our old men, given them in solemn hours of the night by the Great Spirit; and the visions of our sachems, and is written in the hearts of our people.