THE RAINBOW WARRIORS
Continued....
CHIEF SEATTLE
EARTH DAY 2002: The "IT" Factor
by LOUISE "WIND WALKS WOMAN" BARTON (Cherokee/Mohawk)
Aquaculture, the raising of fish and shrimp inland, subjects the catch to unnatural conditions, causing eutrophication. This passes bacteria and sea lice on to consumers, endanger future harvests, and the decline of the Menhaden, a small herring in Atlantic and Gulf Coast waters could cause a cataclysmic break in the food chain. While ecologists are trying to reverse the decline of the world's fisheries, there are those who document how quickly the seas will heal if man will just let them alone.
Oceanographers find the Gulf Stream, which warms North America and Europe is headed toward Global Warming. Carbon dioxide gas in our atmosphere is melting Arctic ice, and scientists watched helplessly as a chunk the size of Rhode Island broke off and melted within a matter of minutes. Unless this trend is reversed, we are threatened with another ice age.
Heirloom plants are being phased out in favor of manmade imitations or nothing at all. Both American and Asian ginseng has become so popular, it is being harvested to extinction. Cacao beans -- the source of all chocolate drinks, cakes, and confections --once called the Food of the Gods, and historically used by warriors, priests, and nobles for over 2,000 years --has been seriously endangered by an invasive plant called Witches Broom.
For those who are so insensitive they couldn't care less about a future without dolphins, ginseng, or chocolate, consider this. Scientific experiments are currently being conducted to produce genetically modified animals. In one experiment reminiscent of the novel, FRANKENSTEIN, Golden Orb Weaver Spider eggs were being inserted into the wombs of goats.
The researchers hope to obtain resulting goat's milk containing gossamer silk spider web threads, which are five times stronger than steel, to be used in the manufacture of airbags, non-tear sports clothing, sutures, and artificial tendons. Nature tried to give us a hint about the validity of such experiments in 1998 when spider farming proved unsuccessful because the participating insects ate one another.
For those who would rather the faces of tigers be resigned forever to collectible plates rather than roaming their natural habitats, the curse has come to pass. For every Native person who beholds the Earth, the sky, its animals, and plants with reverence, we have a thousand Newcomers who use IT, our planet, as a garbage dump.
But, in all things, there must be balance. When the prophecy of destruction was foretold, other prophecies sprang up, telling us how to restore the balance. The Cree foretold, "When the Earth is sick, the animals will began to disappear. When that happens, the Warriors of the Rainbow will come to save them." It is this Cree prophecy which prompted this RAINBOW WARRIOR series honoring those individuals who have dedicated their lives to restoring the balance.
And now a word of caution, for there is a downside to the Seventh Generation prophecy which says if Native people fail to bring everyone together to live in harmony with each other, our Earth, and our ecology, then Native people will cease to exist, the Rainbow Warriors will disband, and our planet will die.
The Cherokee definition of a "warrior" is "a warrior protects and defends" and a warrior also sets an example for others. It has been truly said by today's Native orators that in this difficult time of transition, all of us are warriors, each has a path to walk, striving to bring the prophecy to a positive conclusion.
You are invited to become part of the Seventh Generation Prophecy and choose your path. As all people become one, more Non-Natives will move toward saving the ecology while some Natives become more destructive. Those who go in circles or keep stepping backward are, quite obviously, on the wrong path.
Does it really make any difference today whether the oration or letter in question actually originated with Chief Seattle in 1855 or with Dr. Smith in 1887? However this memorable statement reaches us today, it still contains the wisdom of an articulate Native spiritual leader - and his wisdom has stood the test of time.
Man did not weave the Web of life,
he is merely a strand in it.
What he does to the Web, he does to himself.
Louise "Wind Walks Woman" Barton is listed in the Internet Public Library's Native American Authors Project.
Click here for References
HOME PAGE
* Warrior Menu *
Linda "White Eagle Woman" Wisner
Kenneth Little Hawk
Chief Seattle
Earth Day 2002:
The "IT" Factor
Frank Cipriani
Taylor Banaszak
Sybil Erden
HOME PAGE
Fauna Rescue, Inc. is a non-profit corporation dedicated to the present and future of avian care.
All logos and trademarks in this site are property of their respective owner. The comments are property of their posters, all the rest © 2002 by Fauna Rescue, Inc.
Web Page Graphics by:
Fauna Rescue, Inc. POB 6142, Nashua, NH 03063 - 603.889.5035 (Phone and Fax)
EMAIL Federal Tax Id: 02-0519442
When it comes your time to die,
be not like those whose hearts are filled with the fear of death,
so that when their time comes they weep and pray for a little more time
to live their lives over again in a different way;
sing your death song and die like a hero going home.
Chief Tecumseh, Shawnee Nation 1768 - 1813