Chief Seattle's letter to President

On my post "Colors of the Wind" logged on Feb 18th , Brother Maithri commented that

' I have always loved this song.
The lyrics are based on Chief Seattle's letter to the president, .... google it if you have a moment... its words always move me deeply,"

I am glad that I took his advise and searched on "Chief Seattle's letter to President" on net. Although the text and speech itself might be controversial but the contents of this letter are so deep and soul touching.It was mentioned that it was one of the finest environments text ever written..

How can you buy the sky?
How can you own the rain and the wind?
My father said to me,
I know the sap that courses through the trees,
as I know the blood that flows through my veins.
We are part of the earth as it is part of us.
The perfumed flowers are our sisters.
The bear, the deer, the great eagle,
these are our brothers.
The rocky crests, the meadows, the ponies,
all belong to the same family.
The voice of my ancestors said to me,
The shining water
that moves in the streams and rivers is not simply water
but the blood of your grandfather's grandfather.
Each ghostly reflection
in the clear waters of the lakes
tells memories in the life of our people.
The water's murmur is the life
of your great-great-grandmother.
The rivers are our brothers.
They quench our thirst.
They carry our canoes
and feed our children.
You must give to the rivers
the kindness you would give any brother.
The voice of my grandfather said to me:
The air is precious.
It shares its spirit with all the life it supports.
The wind that gave me my first breath
also receives my last sigh.
You must keep the land and air apart and sacred
as a place where one can go
to taste the wind
that is sweetened by the meadow flowers.
The voice of my grandmother said to me:
Teach your children what you have been taught.
The earth is our mother.
What befalls the earth
befalls all the sons and daughters of the earth.
Hear my voice and the voice of my ancestors,
Chief Seattle said.
The destiny of our people is a mystery to us.
What will happen when the buffalo are all slaughtered?
The wild horses tamed?
What will happen when the secret corners of the forest
are heavy with the scent of many men?
When the view of the ripe hills is blotted by talking wires?
Where will the eagle be?
And what will happen
when we say good-bye to the swift pony and the hunt?
It will be the end of living, and the beginning of survival.
This we know:
All things are connected like the blood that unites us.
We did not weave the web of life,
we are merely a strand in it.
Whatever we do to the web we do to ourselves.
We love this earth as a newborn loves its mother's heartbeat.
If we sell our land, care for it as we have cared for it.
Hold in your mind the memory of the land
as it is when you receive it.
Preserve the land and the air
and the rivers for your children's children
and love it as we have loved it.

[http://home.att.net/~berliner-Ultrasonics/rel-phil.html]

More on Chief Seattle and his letter at:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chief_Seattle
http://www.barefootsworld.net/seattle.html
http://www.synaptic.bc.ca/ejournal/wslibrry.htm