In the presence of Sunshine.

You must teach your children that
the ground beneath their feet is
the ashes of our grandfathers.
So that they will respect the land,
tell you 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.

Chief Seattle’s Testimony, 1854

(Source: starsinhereyes, via humanformat)