International Letter-Writing Competition for Young People, theme: Writing a letter to future generations about the world you hope they will inherit

A Letter to Future Generations from Chief Si'ahl

I am Si'ahl – Chief of the Native American people. Today, I write this letter to convey my heartfelt message to our children, grandchildren, and future generations, a message that I have strived and fought for throughout my lifetime.

As you may know, over 2000 years ago, before the advent of iron machines, our skies were clear, without a speck of dust. During the leisure evenings on high hills, I used to lay down, stretching my arms, inhaling the crisp, fresh air filled with the sweet scent of flowers and leaves. I could hear the flapping wings of birds in the sky, the gentle sound of falling leaves, and the murmuring of clear streams. In our world, wildlife and humans coexisted harmoniously with lush forests, fertile lands, and pure flowing rivers.

However, since strangers arrived bearing guns, disrupting the tranquility with their noisy machinery, chaotic sounds filled my ears. The dense forests were felled, and the lands stripped bare to erect towering buildings. The sunlight scorched the roads, and the dust from cumbersome vehicles, along with the smoke from factories and high chimneys, choked my senses. Dark, polluted waters flowed from industrial plants and deep wells, extracting the painful lifeblood from the earth. Then came the bombs, the radiation, shattering the sacred lands.

Those strangers, they did not realize that they live on the land, breathe air from the sky, drink water from the earth, and eventually return to the earth in death. Everything depends on the land. Yet, they treated the land as an enemy, not recognizing it as flesh and blood, as ancestors. They did not see wildlife as brethren, nor did they understand the value of lush forests that purify the air.

I remind you once again: "The Earth is our Mother. What happens to the land happens to the children of the land. Humans did not weave the web of life; they are merely strands in it. Whatever they do to the web, they do to themselves." Humans, in their increasing greed and selfishness, viewed modern life as progress. They consume pesticide-laden food, drink contaminated water, breathe polluted air, and endure mind-numbing noises – this is not modern, but rather "modern decay."

As for me, with great strength and dedication, I worked to make the earth greener every day. I urged people to cease environmentally polluting activities, actively educated humanity to live in harmony with nature, to see nature as a sibling. Only through such actions can humans reduce the catastrophes they create. I implore you to stop the environmental pollution, actively educate humanity to live in harmony with nature, to see nature as a sibling. Only through such actions can humans reduce the catastrophes they create. It is for the sake of your descendants that I have devoted my entire life.

I have dedicated my entire life to my tribe and Mother Earth. Before I depart, I hope that future generations will inherit what I have painstakingly built: a life where you can live in a clean environment, be well-fed, clothed warmly, study and work in peace and prosperity. And the rest, I urge you to continue and enhance what remains unfinished, not to destroy nature and the living environment of all creatures for petty gains. Remember, "The Earth is our Mother."

Farewell, my children!