In the beginning,
humans lived in small groups...
that collected food
by hunting and gathering,...
taking only what
they needed to survive.
Today, only a few humans still dwell
in the depths of nature...
in some of the last
pristine places on Earth.
They continue
a traditional way of life...
that has been practised,
almost unchanged,...
for thousands of years.
A way of life that has
stood the test of time...
and allowed them to live in harmony
with their natural surroundings.
These may be some of the last remaining
people to live a traditional lifestyle...
based on the wisdom passed down
through countless generations.
Many people have never
heard their voices.
Now it may be time to listen.
L"ve always been taught
by my parents and grandparents,...
the same message they received from
their grandparents for many generations,...
that we treat the Earth as our mother.
When we respect the Earth Mother,
then she provides for us.
And all the things
that we see along the way,...
the four-legged animals,...
the ones in the ocean,...
even the hills and the boulders.
They"re our relatives.
By then learning that we"re all related,...
we also learn the responsibility
to keep our planet alive.
As a young boy,...
when I stood next to a great tree,
a big, full-grown tree,...
I felt really small.
I felt that I still had a place,...
that here"s this great tree,
bigger than me,...
been on the Earth longer,...
and I feel one with it.
The way that my ancestors
were able to maintain a unity...
within the natural environment...
was to see all things sacred,...
meaning there was spirit in everything.
We always respected our elders.
We admired them
for coming so far in life.
My grandfather was a wonderful teacher
and a great storyteller.
It seemed as if, as he spoke,
he also healed.
And I wanted to learn that.
What my grandfather told me...
is that when I speak,
I will touch the hearts of many people.
I know now what he meant.
And there is a healing in the story.
There"s power in the word.
That"s how we built
the power of our communities.
That is how we taught our children
to be great leaders,
to be great medicine people...
Through the stories.
The most basic balance that
is important to our traditional way of life
is to have enough food to eat,
to have water to drink,...
and to have firewood
to keep ourselves warm.
The land provides us
with our basic needs,...
so we are completely
dependent on nature.
Without these things,
we cannot survive.
Lessons can be learned
from other cultures,...
but we"ll also learn from their mistakes.
If the people continue
to treat the Earth with no respect,...
our traditional way of life
will come to an end.
When we kill an animal, the remains
will be shared between the people.
The skin will be used for clothes,
for our blankets.
If it"s a big animal, the meat
will be sun-dried to be eaten later,...
and all the meat will be eaten up.
Sharing is a very important thing
in our culture.
If you don"t share with other people,
they will not share with you.
Sharing is just a natural way of life.
The most important message
I would teach the children...
is they must not forget
about our land and our culture.
Ancient teachings have been passed
down through generations of our people.
These teachings say
all life forms are interconnected.
Everything is part of
one whole and living organism,
and each part is vital
to the survival of the whole.
I believe the Earth is one living being.
The end of any one life form
will lead to hardship of another.
And if there are too many hardships,
the whole may suffer beyond healing.
I was taught that the most important thing
is to have a peaceful heart.
When we are content
with who we are,...
we treat other life forms
with compassion and kindness.
Nature will always contain mysteries.
We don"t need to solve them all.
We just need to be open
and let it fill us.
The energy of nature moves through
the cycle of birth, death and rebirth.
And it continues on and on,...
moving from one form of life
to another.
Long before humans were able
to communicate through modern means,...
cultures separated by vast oceans
were sharing the same values.
They speak
in many languages,...
yet their messages continue
to echo one another across the globe.
I am a man of the people of the tides.
Much of who I am comes from the sea.
Much of our spirituality
comes from the sea.
Somehow we"re called back
to that place where it all began.
When there"s things alive in the sea,
then the sea becomes beautiful.
When there"s animals
and creatures on the Earth,...
then Mother Earth becomes beautiful.
When life is good,
then we have time for the artist,...
then we have time to see the art.
It reminds us
of the heritage of our tribe.
I live in a place
where I could see all of nature,...
and this is how I learn.
All the lessons to living are out there.
When I go into bear country,
I do a ceremony for the bears.
Through ceremony, we are thankful,...
and say a prayer
for being part of this Earth.
I respect other creatures,
other animals,...
because we"re living together.
I come from a society where each one
of us is responsible for a ceremony...
to heal Mother Earth.
It heals our family.
It heals our nation.
It heals our tribe.
People, they already know
how they should keep the planet clean.
This is the way we used to live.
We"re the ones that are
the endangered species.
That"s what the ravens say.
That"s what the eagles say.
When you are living in the forest
with the insects and the animals,...
you build a culture
around the presence of those things.
You always feel something is there,...
warming you up, or even frightening you,
or making you happy.
The forest does speak to us.
The basic value
of the traditional way of life...
is a strong sense of belonging,
of having a place.
For me, a family includes my community,
because they are so close to us,...
and we share our life with them every day.
People can learn a lot
from the traditional way of life.
If there is one thing, I think it is
to learn to live humbly on the land,...
to live humbly in this world.
Whether this is the last generation
to have traditional thoughts and beliefs,...
it may well be.
That"s the sad thing
about traditional knowledge,...
that if you don"t take it now,
it will be gone forever.
We also want our children
to have a good future.
We also want to have this land
intact for our grandchildren.
We are nothing without the animals,
we are nothing without the forest.
This is what we hope is transmitted
to the younger generation.
When I was young, I used to climb
the trees to look for all sorts of fruits.
I could go right to the very top
and look way out,...
and I often wondered,
"What is it like?"
"What are people like
on the other side of the mountain?"
In every culture,
the elders hold the knowledge of the past,...
and the young are the future.
When we look at the world
through the eyes of future generations,...
we begin to discover
what we all have in common.
The most sacred thing
we ever had was choice.
And that"s where it all begins.