The top representatives of several federal organizations dealing with energy and natural resources were waiting to hear from the Pit River Elders there perception on the thermo electrical power of Medicine Lake, located within the ancestral land of the Pit River Tribe and considered a sacred place by them.

Willard Rhodes, one of the elders who belongs to the “Ear-people” and a living treasure of the Pit River Tribe given his knowledge of the stories and healing traditions, got up and addressed the group in the following way:

“ I have heard what you had to say in regards to the need of energy by the rest of the population, and my heart is sadden by your inability to listen to the Earth as you speak. None of you have spoken for the Earth, and you are all highly educated people. So, I will speak for all of us, by acknowledging our Mother, who sustains our breath so that we may live in this moment, for we -you, me, all of us here- are her children.

“I remember walking this land, as a little boy. There were few fences back then, few homes. We had no electricity, and the nights were illuminated by the light of the stars, a light that you could not only see: you could feel it within yourself. I was a little guy, but I could walk at night under the shelter of the stars. It was a good feeling.

My parents taught me that all life was connected and moving. Even the rocks that seemed solid where moving. I believed them, even though I didn’t see the rocks moving, but my heart told me that their words were true, and that everywhere in the Earth life was connected and in motion.

“ I was told also that I was to take care of the Earth for I was just a traveler and the life of others to come where to be sustained by her. So, with this in mind, I regularly ask myself the question ‘how is this going to affect my mother?’ and if the answer is that is going to affect her in a negative way with something, then I do without that thing. If you look around, you are going to find that we Indians do with out a lot of things that you have. Now you are coming to us because of things that you still need for your way of life. But, when are you going to have enough?

My father told me about some ants that get in line and eventually end up walking right into the river. All of them. Very well organized, in line, to their death. ‘That is the mainstream’ my father told me, and he encouraged me not to follow the mainstream.

“As I look at you, I feel sorry for you. Here you are with your credit cards, with your fancy cars, with your cellular phones, with all of your technology, and yet neither one of you listens to the heart of life of the Earth. You come to take some more because your hearts are never satisfied, never fulfilled, and you still think that you will feel better by having more. Only the Spirit can fill the human heart and we all have a responsibility for the Earth. Perhaps it is time for you to return to your homes and to begin to do without some of your things. Then you will have lesser things within you and more room for life. This is what I have to say for my mother and for my people.”