"What is man without the beast? If all the beasts 
were gone, man would die from a great loneliness 
of spirit. For whatever happens to the beasts, 
soon happens to man. All things are connected. 
Teach your children what we have taught our 
children, that the earth is our mother. Whatever 
befalls the earth befalls the sons of the earth. 
If men spit upon the ground, they spit upon 
themselves. This we know: The earth does not 
belong to man; man belongs to the earth.  This we 
know. All things are connected like the blood 
which unites one family. All things are 
connected. Whatever befalls the earth befalls the 
sons of the earth. Man did not weave the web of 
life: he is merely a strand in it. Whatever he 
does to the web, he does to himself. This earth 
is precious to God, and to harm the earth 
is to heap contempt on its creator."

Chief Seattle, 1854.