Long ago the Creator put first out trees on this earth, then animals, and then human beings.
In the beginning the trees thought that they were people. They became arrogant and self-righteous. The Creator was displeased with the trees, and took away their voices and forced them to behave by anchoring them to the ground with roots. As time passed the creatures of the world forgot about what the trees had done to become that way. Soon enough, the animals began to think that they were people, and started to behave just as poorly as the trees had done. Displease by this behavior, the Creator took away the animal’s language, and would not allow the animals to walk upright any longer, because they should not be so proud. As time passed the creatures of the world forgot about what the animals had done to become that way. Soon enough, the human beings started to act like people. The humans were the most obnoxious so far. The Creator looked at the situation that the humans had created for themselves and all the other creatures of the world. The Creator decided that if the humans cannot remember and learn from the mistakes of their fellow creatures and reconnect the circle of respect that ties everyone and everything together, it will be the end of their time.
This story is based on a few lines of a Salish tale told by master storyteller, Johnny Moses (Whis.stem.men.knee). Moses is Tulalip Native American, raised in the Nuu-chah-nulth village of Ohiat on Vancouver Island.
Johnny Moses says “. . . long ago, the trees thought they were people, long ago the animals thought they were people. Then he adds, “Someday they will say . . . long ago, the human beings thought they were people.”
My hope is that the story ends with “. . . long ago, the human being thought they were people.” But the story is intended to instill that we should not just learn from out own mistakes, but to also learn from the mistakes of others. The key point of the story, though, is to remember that we are all linked to everything, and our actions have consequences that affect everything – so we must learn respect.