“We do not inherit the earth from our ancestors…” -Chief Seattle

“We cannot simply think of our survival; each new generation is responsible to ensure the survival of the seventh generation…

“Seven Generations: Its about seed, its about life, the Seventh Generation is about looking ahead, its about responsibility. The Seventh Generation reminds you that you have responsibility to generations that are coming. And that you are indeed in charge of life as it is at the moment. Every generation has its time, every generation has its leaders, and every generation has its heros, every generation has all of that. When that generation passes, the next generation will have the same. They will also have their leaders, they will also have their heros. They will also have their problems, and they will also have the continuing responsibility to look out for the next seven generations.

… people talk about their rights, their rights, but they never talk about their responsibility. Leadership has got to have that above all, they have got to have vision, they have got to have compassion for the future, they have got to make that decision for the seventh generation. That is not just a casual term, that is a real instruction for survival.

Of the 100 largest economic units in the world today, 49 are countries and 51are corporations. Now digest that for a second… what does that mean? It means that corporations are the driving force of decision making today. And corporations are not concerned with human rights, they are not concerned with human life, they are not even concerned with a proper wage for the people who are working for them. So what kind of decisions are going to be made on our behalf? By this economic power, these corporate states I call them. There is going to be hell to pay as they say, for some of the things that are going on now. So I think that people have to become aware and become awake. Power is always in the peoples hands, authority, they need to come of one mind, they need to challenge the values that are being shoved at them today, because this has become a consumer society, it’s driven by economics, it’s not driven by common sense. Everyone should be their own leader, do your thinking for yourself.”
-Chief Oren Lyons