《這片土地是神圣的》原文及相關資料

the ashes
you must teach your children that the ground beneath their feet is the ashes of your grandfathers. so that they will respect the land, tell your children that the earth is rich with the lives of our kin. teach your children what we have taught our children, that the earth is our mother. whatever befalls the earth befalls the sons of the earth. if men spit upon the ground, they spit upon themselves. this we know: the earth does not belong to man; man belongs to the earth. this we know.
all things are connected like the blood which unites one family. all things are connected. whatever befalls the earth befalls the sons of the earth. 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. even the white man, whose god walks and talks with him as friend to friend, cannot be exempt from the common destiny.
we may be brothers after all.
we shall see.
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 god of man, and his compassion is equal for the red man 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 all other tribes. contaminate your bed, and you will one night suffocate in your own waste. but in your perishing you will shine brightly, fired by the strength of the god who brought you to this land and for some special purpose gave you dominion over this land and over the red man.
that destiny is a mystery to us, for we do not understand when the buffalos are all slaughtered, the wild horses are tamed, the secret corners of the forest heavy with 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.
the end of living and the beginning of survival.