"There is a longing in the heart of my people
to reach out and grasp that which is needed
for our survival. There is a longing among
the young of my nation to secure for them-
selves and their people the skills that will
provide them with a sense of worth and
purpose. They will be our new warriors.
Their training will be much longer and
more demanding than it was in olden days.
The long years of study will demand more
determination, separation from home and
family will demand endurance. But they
will emerge with their hand held forward,
not to receive welfare, but to grasp the
place in society that is rightly ours.

I am a chief, but my power to make war
is gone, and the only weapon left to me
is speech. It is only with tongue and speech
that I can fight my people's war."

by Chief Dan George

Chief Dan George, OC (July 24, 1899–September 23, 1981) was a chief of the Tsleil-Waututh, a Salish First Nations people located in Burrard Inlet, British Columbia. Chief George was also an Academy Award-nominated actor and an author.

Acting career

In 1960, when he was already 60 years of age, he got his first job acting in a CBC Television series, Cariboo Country, as the character "Ol' Antoine". He performed the same role in a Walt Disney Studios movie, Smith!, adapted from an episode in this series (based on Breaking Smith's Quarter Horse, a novella by Paul St. Pierre). At the age of 71, George won several awards for his role in the film Little Big Man, including a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor. He continued to act in other films, such as The Outlaw Josey Wales, Harry and Tonto, and Americathon, and on television, including a role in the miniseries Centennial, based on the book by James A. Michener.
George acted the role of Rita Joe's father in George Ryga's stage play, The Ecstasy of Rita Joe, in performances at Vancouver, the National Arts Centre in Ottawa and Washington.
During his acting career, Chief Dan George always worked to promote better understanding by non-aboriginals of the First Nations people. His soliloquy, Lament for Confederation (full text), a riveting indictment of the appropriation of native territory by white colonialism, was performed at the city of Vancouver's celebration of the Canadian centennial in 1967. This speech is credited with escalating native political activism in Canada, as well as touching off widespread pro-native sentiment among non-natives.
In 1971, George was made an Officer of the Order of Canada.
He died in Vancouver in 1981 at the age of 82.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chief_Dan_George

Old growth forest

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Old growth forest, also called primary forest, ancient forest, virgin forest, primeval forest, frontier forest or (in the UK) Ancient Woodland, is an area of forest that has attained great age and so exhibits unique biological features. Old growth forests typically contain large live trees, large dead trees (sometimes called "snags"), and large logs. Old growth forests usually have multiple vertical layers of vegetation representing a variety of tree species and age classes.

Redwoods in old growth forest in Muir Woods National Monument, Marin County, California.

Forest regenerated after severe disruptions, such as clear-cut or fire is often called second-growth or regeneration until a long enough time passes that the effects of the disturbance are no longer evident. Depending on the forest, this may take anywhere from a century to several millennia. Hardwood forests of the eastern United States can develop old-growth characteristics in one or two generations of trees, or 150-500 years.

Old growth forests may be home to rare species which depend on this now-rare habitat, making them ecologically significant. Biodiversity may be higher or lower in old growth forests than in second-growth forests depending on specific circumstances. Logging in old growth forests is a contentious issue in many parts of the world.

www.catpress.com/planet/jhill/jhillinteng.htm

Native Americans have always had a close relationship with all the creatures of the Earth. Did you get closer to their view of life through your experience? Have you been in contact with any Native American tribes since then? I know, for example, that you are involved in the campaign for Leonard Peltier's liberation.

Julia Butterfly:
Yes, Leonard Peltier is a Native American who has been in prison for 25 years for a murder he did not commit. Like other people who have been wrongly imprisoned, he is paying for standing up for what he believes in and for defending the rights of a minority. I have been in contact with two Native American tribes in particular: the Lakota from Pine Ridge, South Dakota, and the Dineh Navaho from Big Mountain, Arizona. The Lakota of the Pine Ridge Reservation are the poorest people in the US. The unemployment rate is 98% there. With the Circle of Life Foundationwe are working to improve their conditions. All of the indigenous tribes knew how to live as one with nature. They taught about the three S's, that is Sovereignty, Subsistence and Spirituality. Sovereignty is the ability to self-govern by living according to the laws of nature. Among the Natives, the rules for humans patterned the rules of nature. Subsistence is about seeing the difference between needs and wants -in other words not to destroy what we need because of what we want, because of greed. Spirituality is about recognising that every life is sacred. Every time they take a life for food, the Natives ask for permission first, and then they give thanks. The Lakota have really taught me a lot. For example, in the Lakota language there is no word for mitigation. Mitigation is the word we use when we are trying to clean up the streams we have polluted. The concept does not exist in the minds of the Lakota because they do not make a mess in the first place, so they do not need to clean up. The Lakotas have so much to teach us. Unfortunately these three ways of living have been undermined and destroyed in every possible way, but the Natives who hold on to their spirituality are so much richer than the wealthiest people in America.
http://juliabutterflyhill.wordpress.com/