TUGAS 3 READING 2 / PBIS4208

The following passage has been extracted from a statement made by a Native American
chief, Chief Seattle, inresponse to demands to sell his people’s land. It was made in 1854
and is preserved in Washington. It is considered to be one of the best statements ever
made on the environment.

Read the passage and answer the questions.

Every part of this earth is sacred to my people. Every shining pine needle, every sandy shore,
every mist in the dark woods, every humming insect is holy in the memory and experience of
my people.

The perfumed flowers are our sisters; the deer, the horse, the great eagle, these are our brothers.
The rocky crests, the juices in the meadows, the body heat of pony, and man – all belong to the
same family.

So when the Great Chief in Washington sends word that wishes to buy our land, he asks much
of us. I do not know. Our ways are different from your ways. The sight of your cities pains the
eyes. There is no quiet place in the cities. No place to hear the unfurling of leaves in the spring
or the rustle of insects’ wings. I have seen a thousand buffaloes rotting on the prairie, left by the
men who shot them from a passing train.

What is man without the beasts? If all the beasts were gone, men would die from a great
loneliness of spirit. For whatever happens to the beast, soon happens to man. All things are
connected.

The rivers are our brothers, they quench our thirst. The rivers carry our canoes, and feed our
children. If we sell you our land, you must remember, and teach your children, that the rivers are
our brothers, and yours, and you must henceforth give rivers the kindness you would give any
brother.

The air is precious for all things share the same breath – the beast, the tree, the man, they all
share the same breath. If we sell you our land, you must remember that the air is precious to us,
that the air shares its spirit with all the life it supports.

And if we sell you our land, you must keep it apart and sacred, as a place where even the White
Man can go to taste the wind that is sweetened by the meadow’s flowers. The White Man must
treat the beasts of this land as his brothers.

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 earth. All things are connected
like the blood which unites one family. 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.

One thing we know – our God is the same God. 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. Continue to contaminate your bed, and you will one night
suffocate in your own waste.

So if we sell you our land, love it as we’ve loved it. Care for it as we’ve cared for it. Hold in
your mind the memory of the land as it is when you take it. And with all your strength, with all
your mind, with all your heart, preserve it for your children, and love it as God loves us all.
(Adapted from “Our Sacred Land” by Chief Seattle, 1854, in English Form 5 by Yunus and
Spykerman, 1991).

Answer the Questions!

1.What is Chief seattle’s attitude toward nature?

2.Who was the ‘Great Chief’ reffred to in the passage?

3.Why did Chief Seattle stress the point that man and nature are inseparable?

4.When Chief seattle made references to the beasts, the rivers and the air, what was he trying to
emphasize in his argument?

5.When Chief Seattle made a reference to God in paragraph 10, what point was he attempting to
highlight?

6.What were the main arguments Chief seattle put forward?