Unto the 7th Generation

The First Earth Day

with the Iroquois, 1914

americaslibrary.gov

Many many years ago, 

when buffalo, trees, antelope and bear

were plentiful upon the land,

when the waters ran free and clear,

and the fish multiplied

by the millions,

the First Peoples' chiefs and elders taught:

"In all of your dealings, in every decision,

personal and communal,

consider the impact 

of what you do and how much you take

upon the 7th generation to come.

"Let self-interest have no part 

in what we take from Mother Earth,

in order that our great-great-great grandchildren,

unto the 7th generation,

140 years from today,

will have enough to sustain life."

This same message is passed, in oral tradition,
among the aboriginal peoples of the earth,
who have lived for thousands of years 
connected to and in harmony with 
Mother Nature.

Those chiefs and elders from long ago
must lie uneasily in their shallow graves,

if their spirits can still witness

the excesses and greed,

the  corporate decimation

- and domination -

of the planet
that oppresses

their descendants today.

May the young people 

- and all the dispossessed of the world -

soon rise up in a mighty wave

to Re-Occupy Earth

as their ancestors occupied it,

when all the world was young.

source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seven_generation_sustainability

Thankfully, First Nation voices are sounding the alarm and are rising up,  in such movements as Idle No More and the Occupy movement, to resist and expose the corporate stranglehold on the throat of the planet. May all who are moved to do so make personal choices which will directly impact the corporate bottom line. Our pocketbooks can make our voices heard.

Posted for Mid Week Motif at Poets United: to write about any 7th at all. This is the 7th that Occupies my mind.