Symphonic Transposition - 6

We know that the white man does not understand our ways. One portion of land is the same to him as the next. He is a stranger who comes in the night and takes from the land whatever he needs. The earth is not his sister, but his enemy and when he has conquered it, he moves on. His appetite will devour the earth and leave behind only a desert. The sight of your cities pains the eyes of the red man. But perhaps it is because the red man is a savage and does not understand. There is no quiet place in the white man’s cities. No place to hear the unfurling of leaves in spring, or the rustle of an insect’s wings. But perhaps it is because I am a savage and do not understand. The clatter only seems to insult the ears. The air is precious to the red man. The white man does not seem to notice the air he breathes. Whatever befalls the earth befalls the sons of the earth.  The earth does not belong to man - man belongs to the earth. Our God is the same God; therefore to harm the earth is to heap contempt on its creator. Chief Seattle – 1854.