“Our Home and Native Land”
~ Giants!
Born
in a virgin Forest -- their sacred flesh uncut
Giants amongst the Cedar trees - they stand to fall for
glut!
In times when Silver scarcely shines - vast kingdoms rise from gold
To all the World our Greed exposed
- true nature of our Ways.
They stand below a dozer blade, South West, South East
and North.
This Land, our Native heritage, chopped, for the price
of a stump.
To All the World, our Shame exposed,
Giants amongst the Cedar trees ~ in Sacred Chambers lie.
BB
We stand at the edge of a precipice!
The forests you see in the picture above are no longer here. The artist who shaped and brought them to life
managed to contain their spirit, but it has not been enough to curb the
onslaught against our most precious resource. Trees will fall, roads will be
pushed, and scars will be made.
~ Everything is moving far too quickly
now. Our woods are being destroyed at
an alarming rate; our watersheds are quickly eroding, and the sky is literally
falling back on us. Let this be a
warning! The remaining forests stand
pure and clean to remind us of our infraction.
When they are gone, our conscience will be released. But as long as they stand, they remain ~
like a sacred chamber ~ evidence of a way of life, which at one time had a much
greater sense of respect for the Land than we do today.
I think the whole issue of land management needs
to be brought to the table. The trees
which surround us, as well as the minerals beneath us, belong to all of
us. Governments receive revenues from
our resources, and so do corporations.
But in relation to the wealth that exists in the core centers, the
average person is not receiving a fair share of the revenues generated by our
resources. We end up losing out on the economic potential of the country,
because there are a lot of people in between, who grab up more than their fair
share of the wealth that comes from our resources.
Everything comes from the land, products are created, and companies are
made. The buildings get taller, and the
life-styles get faster. But when we
look at the core centers, in relation to the ghettos, the gap between the rich
and the poor is clearly evident. So we
need to question the fairness of our resource management strategies, in
relation to the gap that we're creating.
We
need resource-related industries; there's no doubt about that. But how we handle the renewal, as well as the
use of our resources, reflects on our attitude towards the Land. For example, the practice of creating
short-term products is depleting our resource base needlessly. Where is the
justice of destroying our resources, when the products that are created from
those resources often end up in the garbage anyway? The forests, which once provided us with an abundance of food
and shelter, are now being sacrificed for nothing but corporate greed.
In the same way that the Natives once lost their connection to the Land, it is ironic that a large segment of our society is losing a share of their right to the Land as well. Corporations are stripping the Land of its natural resources, and Governments support them for their tax dollars ~ those who could be making a living off the land can’t afford to buy it.
We can
no longer trust corporations with the care of our resources. If they're anything like governments, they
won't leave a thing behind except for a heavy burden on the taxpayer. It seems
once these people get through using up all our resources, they simply shut down
and leave. The resources, which could have kept us going for hundreds of years
- gone in just a few short years.
It's
time we address this question - who do the resources really belong to? And under whose care should the Land be
entrusted? Future generations are
depending on us to make these kinds of decisions now, before the resources are
depleted.
We
need to think about the Past, when making decisions regarding our Future,
because the efforts of those who have gone before us, are now shaping our
Future. So we need to respect their wishes, when making decisions regarding our
resources. The trees, which we are now consuming, were here long before we ever
came on the scene.
The people
who walked these very same forests touched these woods much more gently than we
do today. They too had dreams for their
children, but their wishes are not being fulfilled. Governments and corporations throughout the world are
slaughtering the lifeblood out from under generations of local Peoples - Now
where is the justice of that?
All
you've got to do is look at the rings (in the trees) the evidence is still
there. Our generation only represents a
fraction of the total circle. Yet we
think we have exclusive rights to those resources.
Even in my time there was more respect for the forests. I can remember when loggers used to mark
trees in a selective manner, according to their maturity. There was a degree of justice left in the
act of logging, which bonded man to nature.
But that kind of perception is gone from the work force. The respect for the Land, which our
ancestors once had, is somehow slipping away. In terms of universal justice,
traditional peoples deserve more consideration than they're getting.
Native
elders today, are strongly voicing their concerns: "You must not mistreat the Land." If we could somehow reach their ancestors,
I'm sure they'd give us an earful, in regards to how we are treating the Land
today. So, we need to remember the
past, because if we don't, all the care that our forefathers put into the Land
could be wiped out with the stroke of a pen.
Real
potentials are often overlooked when political patronage becomes a priority in
decision-making. And this is where the
problem lies; political patronage plays a major role in extracting tax dollars
from the Land. So I'm wondering if it
isn't just another way for securing long-term tenure for the government in
session.
I
question the value of democracy when I see these kinds of things happening -
corporations in far away Lands, skimming dollars from under the noses of local
peoples. As is most often the case,
governments throughout the world are supporting this horrible travesty.
- In
the old days people spent much of their time stocking up for the winter. However, it took a lot of time and hard work
to put together a grubstake in those days. It became easier and more attractive
to live and work in the city. Things are much more comfortable these days, but
for some it's a living hell.
The
Social impoverishment, which is now spreading throughout the world, is going to
increase much more rapidly once the resources are depleted. This trend cannot continue; our social
systems are beginning to fail, and the environment is beginning to suffer.
The
majority of Peoples in the world are not getting their fair share of the
economic benefits that come from our Land. It's only available to those who
have a stronghold on Wealth and political power - everyone wants a cut of the
pie. But unfortunately it's always the poor who end up picking up the scraps.
The
problem is, governments are selling off our resources to the highest ‘bidder’.
Local peoples are losing out because our profits are escaping to other
Lands. It's time the Land is brought
back to the negotiating table. The question of stewardship, in regards to the
Land and our resources, poses us with a unique challenge. Could the Land and
our resources be better protected, if placed under a public trust?
The
things of the past have a way of coming back on us. History will continue to raise hardships with all peoples, until
protection for the Land and our resources is ensured in all countries now
dominated by ‘economic apartheid’.
Clearly,
justice should be seated, not only on the side of the State and human rights,
but also on the side of the people who wish to remain connected to the Land,
and its resources.
When we make decisions regarding the Land and our resources
- we the People should have first say. We should be deciding on how the Land gets utilized. We should be
deciding on how the resources are allocated, and we should be deciding on who
benefits from the Harvest. Otherwise we'll miss out on the opportunities, which
are here for all of us to share.
Unfortunately
this point of view is not being given a voice in the political life of this
country, because it runs counter to everything governments and corporations
want to do. However, in terms of
resource depletion and rapid community downfall, we need to take a more serious
look at how we are dividing up the Land and our resources. I think it makes sense in the long run, to
follow a more holistic approach to land use.
If the
wood hadn't been extracted in such a hurry, more people could be working. It could have given our resource communities
time to grow, more time to develop secondary industries. As it is there is very little left, and the
people who could have been working are quickly becoming a financial
burden. So we need to look at resource depletion, in
relation to the social costs those job losses are going to create.
When we issue licenses to people who are only
interested in extracting dollars from our resources, we are in danger of losing
a valuable resource security; which might have inevitably saved us. I'm willing to bet that there may come a day
when we will need to go back to the Land for our survival.
What
I see coming out of industry is more and more pollution. People seem to think there is a hole up
there, and everything simply escapes out into space. Well there's a hole up there all right, but it's not letting any
smoke out. I'm sure that the atmosphere is deteriorating much more quickly now. Trees are the lungs of the world. When there were lots of trees around, it was
much easier for the atmosphere to clean itself. But there is so much more pollution now, and fewer trees to help
purify the air. Once the atmosphere
becomes fully polluted, things could begin to die off quickly.
I
really believe we need an independent International
Authority to keep a close eye on what's happening to the
environment. It's clear that
governments are aligned with the same people who are doing the polluting. If the air turns foul, there really wouldn't
be that many places left where you could catch a breath of fresh air. If and when people finally begin to drop,
governments will be the first to say it's a virus. They don't really want to shut down the factories, because
indirectly that's what's generating their taxes.
The
problem is viruses probably flourish better in foul air than they do in pure
air. And where do all the toxins end
up? They end up in the North and South
Polar Regions. Recent tests have indicated that these toxins are
increasing. So I'm wondering if it
might not be getting close for all of us.
Our
Earth is dying - Where once the fishes flowed and the animals roamed, rises a
dying stench that's quickly polluting the whole planet. We are no longer in touch with our natural
connections - to the Land and our food supply. We are directly responsible for
altering the natural flows that pass through this planet, and we are destroying
the layers that blanket our world.
These things that we do are in direct violation of universal laws. Laws
built into the very structure of Nature; laws that govern the relationship
between humans and animals, and between humanity and its environment.
We are
losing the battle to save the environment. The gap between the rich and the
poor is increasing, and our social systems are beginning to fail. I think it’s
time we learn how to deal with the differences that separate us. Our history
will not improve, until the injustices of the world are dealt with. The
divisions in the world are becoming increasingly dangerous, and new efforts are
going to be needed to bridge the 'gap' between us.
History
is like a River - We're caught in a 'current' that is taking us to an uncertain
end. Some of those currents end up in the Ocean, and some end up in
swamplands. If we can make it through
all the whirlpools and waterfalls, we could end up being free of the current.
However, whether we end up bobbing in swamp water
or saltwater, depends largely on how resistant we are to changes in the flow.
