Ownership of the Land

Dear Great great grandchildren,

You must be wondering “Why??? Why can we only walk on 1% of earth’s land? Why are water and soil so poisonous that our mother does not let us touch it in some places? Why are the plains really hot so we can’t leave the mountains?”

Here’s why: For thousands of years, humans slowly agreed that it’s OK for a few people called the wealthy to “own” land. What is “owning land” you ask? It means that one person is allowed to say that a piece of land is theirs, and no one else can walk on it to hunt or gather. These wealthy had guns on “their” land; people who would hurt us if we tried to enter. Since most of us could not enter most lands, we could no longer freely harvest food or materials for shelters and clothes. We slowly became dependent on the wealthy to give us food, shelter and clothing. The wealthy would give us these things only if we “worked jobs” for them.

The wealthy began digging the earth and taking materials out of her, to make baubles and bangles; not things we really needed but things they convinced us we needed. When the earth was dug, poisons came up with the materials used to make the baubles. The wealthy forced us to dig the earth, and to make the baubles and bangles; we had no choice because we could not longer walk onto most of the land, to find food and make shelters and clothing. The horrible poisons got into the soil, water, and air, making the water undrinkable, the soil unable to grow food, the air with a strange blanket that made earth really hot.

Many tried to stop the digging of the earth, and refused to make the baubles and bangles. But the people with the guns would not allow us to stop the poisoning; we were not allowed to go where the digging was happening so we were helpless. We are so so sorry. And, we are glad that you live in harmony with the earth; that you don’t dig her up or poison her. We are so proud of you! Continue to protect all life, take only what you need to eat. And never allow anyone to “own” land again; it does not belong to any one person, but equally to all life that exists.