When the Last Tree Is Cut Down, the Last Fish Eaten, and the Last Stream Poisoned, You Will Realize That You Cannot Eat Money
The way this phrase (or something similar to it) has been passed around is interesting, because as far as I can find this was actually a quote in a book from a specific Abenaki (not Cree as has been randomly asserted) man. Then, somehow, this gets transformed into some mystical ~proverb~ as if it’s some mythic wisdom passed down from the ancients. White people love their noble savage trope.
I’ve always thought the entire quote to be much more impactful, too:
Canada, the most affluent of countries, operates on a depletion economy which leaves destruction in its wake. Your people are driven by a terrible sense of deficiency. When the last tree is cut, the last fish is caught, and the last river is polluted; when to breathe the air is sickening, you will realize, too late, that wealth is not in bank accounts and that you can’t eat money.
I speak for the trees
