Deathwatch Robb White Chapter Summaries

Rights Manifesto of the Earth - The speech of Chief Seattle - Lame Deer - The June 1854

Carry only a small part of the large response that the head of Indian Lame Deer in 1854 gave the U.S. President who had asked him to sell his land.

Touching the water theme, here, what he said: "We will consider your offer to purchase but will not be easy because this land is sacred to us. The shining water that moves in streams and rivers is not just water, but the blood of our ancestors. If we sell you land, you must remember that it is sacred, and you must teach your children that it is sacred and that every quivering reflection in Clear Lake 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 and they quench our thirst. The rivers carry our canoes and feed our children .. If we sell you land, you must remember and teach your children that the rivers are our brothers and yours, and you must therefore also be used with the rivers the kindness that you use with a brother. "Speaking of the city said:" There is no quiet place in the white man's cities. No place to hear the rustling of leaves in the spring or the rustle of insect wings. But perhaps I am a savage and do not understand. The noise of the city seems soltanto che ferisca soltanto gli orecchi. E cosa è mai la vita , se l’uomo non può ascoltare il grido solitario dei succiacapre o i discorsi delle rane attorno ad uno stagno di notte? Ma io sono un uomo rosso e non capisco: L’indiano preferisce il dolce rumore del vento che soffia sulla superficie del lago o l’odore del vento stesso, pulito dalla pioggia o profumato dagli aghi di pino. L’aria è preziosa per l’uomo poiché tutte le cose partecipano dello stesso respiro. L’uomo bianco sembra non accorgersi dell’aria che respira e come un uomo da molti giorni in agonia, egli è insensibile alla puzza. Ma se noi vi vendiamo la terra , voi dovete ricordare che l’aria e preziosa per noi and that the air has the same spirit of life it supports. The wind that gave our fathers the first breath also receives his last breath. And the wind must also give our children the spirit of life. And if we sell you our land you must keep it apart and as sacred as a place where even the white man can go to taste the wind that is sweetened by the meadow flowers. "

PS
He spoke of the great and wise Indian leader also other issues still present, in order to which man, despite being passed over 150 years, has not yet learned anything to improve his living conditions, indeed, in many respects, has worsened the situation.