B io ph ile Issu e 18 - Biophile Magazine

lo#*;4:bflo#*;lo#*;4:;4:Burnun Burnun(STATEMENT ON THE ENVIRONMENT)of the Wurundjeri People, based on Chief Seattle's speech of 1854Biophile Issue 18l;4: ;4This land of the Dream time was given to us and we love it very dearly.The idea of it being taken is strange to us.If we do not own the freshness of the air and the sparkle of the water,how can you buy them?Every part of this land is sacred to my people.Every shining gum leaf, every sandy shore, every mist in the eucalypt forest,every dealing and insect is holy in the memory and experience of my people.The sap which courses through the trees carries the memories of the black man.The shining water that lives in the billabongs and rivers is not just water,but the blood of our ancestors.If you take our land, you must remember that it is sacred,and you must teach your children that it is sacred,and that each ghostly reflection in the dear water of the lakestells of events and memories in the life of my people.Our dead never forget this beautiful land,for it is the Mother of the black man.We are part of the land and the land is part of us. The perfumed flowers are our sisters;the koala, the kangaroo, and great eagle, these are our brothers.The rocky crests, the juices of the forest, the body heat of the dingo, and man — all belongto the same family.There is no quiet place in the cities.No place to hear the crackling of leaves or the rustle of an insect's wings.What is there to life if we cannot hear the lonely cry of the curlew or the mopoke,of the arguments of the frogs around the billabong at night.The air is precious to us for all things share the same breath —the animal, the tree, the man; we all share the same breath.Since you have already taken our land, you must remember that the air is precious to us,that the air shares its spirit with all the life if supports.The wind that gave our grandfather his first breath, also receives his last sigh, and thewind must also give our children the spirit of life.Teach your children as we have taught our children, that the Earth is our Mother.Whatever befalls the Earth, befalls the sons and daughters of the Earth.If men spit upon the ground, they spit upon themselves.This we know; the Earth does not belong to us, we belong to the Earth.This we know; all things are connected.Whatever befalls the Earth, befalls the people 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.Men come and go, like the waves of the sea.Love your land as we have loved it; care for it as we have cared for it.Hold in your mind the memory of the land as it was when you took itAnd with all your strength, with all your mind, with all your heart,preserve it for your children — and love it.63