ABSTRACT
In a chapter in which he argues that nature is part of God’s work, and that many religions support the idea of taking care of the Earth, Al Gore presents a quotation he attributes to Chief Seattle, without citing the source in his endnotes. Gore states that the power of Seattle’s speech ‘has survived numerous translation and retellings.’ Here is Gore’s quotation of Chief Seattle in full:
How can you buy or sell the sky? The land? The idea 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 earth is sacred to my people. Every shining pine needle, every sandy shore, every mist in the dark woods, every meadow, every humming insect. All are holy in the memory and experience of my people …
If we sell you our land, remember that the air is precious to us, that the air shares its spirit with all the life it supports. The wind that gave our grandfather his first breath also received his last sigh. The wind also gives our children the spirit of life. So if we sell you our land, you must keep it apart and sacred, a place where man can go to taste the wind that is sweetened by the meadow flowers.
