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Comprehension An Open Letter

The summary provides the key points from the document in 3 sentences: Chief Seattle, a Red Indian leader, wrote a letter to the American government describing how the original inhabitants of North America were the Red Indians and how the European settlers took their land. The letter poetically describes how for the Red Indians, all parts of nature like trees, flowers, animals, water and air are sacred and interconnected as they are all part of the same family. The letter conveys that humans are just one small part of the natural world and have a responsibility to care for it as damaging it will also harm themselves.

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Dhrisha Gada
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42 views4 pages

Comprehension An Open Letter

The summary provides the key points from the document in 3 sentences: Chief Seattle, a Red Indian leader, wrote a letter to the American government describing how the original inhabitants of North America were the Red Indians and how the European settlers took their land. The letter poetically describes how for the Red Indians, all parts of nature like trees, flowers, animals, water and air are sacred and interconnected as they are all part of the same family. The letter conveys that humans are just one small part of the natural world and have a responsibility to care for it as damaging it will also harm themselves.

Uploaded by

Dhrisha Gada
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Read the pasaagL CaukullyAnd

Kead
Leing
An Open Letterr

The original inhabitants of North poignantly describes the relationship


America are the Red Indians. Thne between man and nature.
European settlers occupied the Red "Every part of the earth is sacred to mny
land chased
man's and ruthlessly
them away. Sometimes they were
people. Every shining pine needle,
every sandy shore, every mist in the
compensated for the loss of their land, dark woods, every meadow, every
S metimes they were not. The Red insect. All are holy in the
humming
memory and experience of my people.
We know the sap which courses
through the trees as we know the blood
that courses through our veins. We are

part of the earth and it is part of us. The


perfumed flowers are our sisters. The
bear, the deer, the great eagle, these are
our brothers. The rocky crests, the dew
in the meadow, the body heat of the
pony and man, all belong to the same
family.
The shining water that moves in the
streams and river is not just water, but
the blood of our ancestors. Each glossy
reflection in the clear waters of the lakes
tells of events and memoirs in the life of
my people. The water's murmur is the
voice of my father's father.
The rivers are our brothers. They
quench our thirst. They carry our

canoes and feed our children. So you


Indians considered earth as precious must give the rivers the kindness that
Read a part of the letter written by
Chief Seattle, a Red Indian leader, to you would give any brother.
the American government. The letter The air is precious to us and the air
shares its spirit with all he life that it
This we know: the earth does no:
supports. The wind that zave our
belong to man, man belongs to the earth.
randfather his first breath also received All things are connected like the
is last sigh. The wind also gives our blood| =

that unites us all. Man does not weave


hildren the spirit of life. The earth is the web of life, he is merely a strand in
our mother, what befalls the earth it. Whatever he does to the web, he does
befalls all the sons.
to himself..
-

The Hindu (Adapted)


0n the basis of your reading the text,
complete the tasks.
1. Pick out the
phrases/sentences from the text which mean the same as the
following:
a. the first dwellers
(para 1)
b. people who settle in newly
developed land (para 1)
C.
cruelly drive them away (para 1)
d. made amends for (para 1)
e.
deeply moving description (para 1)

2. Study the comparison made in these lines:


"We know the sap which courses through the trees know the
that courses through our veins."
as we
blood
Were the word 'as' has been used to compare two
things. Write against each.
one of the following what they are compared with.

a. the perfumed flowers

°***°°°°

b. the bear, the deer, the great eagle


*****

C. the shining water that moves in the streams and rivers

*°°**
******'*'**'****'°*

2
d. The water's murmur

e. The rivers

|3. Answer the questions.


a. "All are holy in the memory and experience of my people." What are these
things?

***°

b. "... all belong to the family." What does the


same
speaker mean by 'all"?|

C. "Each glossy reflection in the clean waters of the lakes tells of..What
does it tell us?

d. Why should we show kindness to rivers?

e. What does the writer say about the earth?

f. "Man does not weave ... he does to himself .." What do you think thel
author is trying to say through these lines?
********.

******e*******e**********

4 The passage 'An Open Letter has


able heading for each
sevenparagraphs. Choose the most suitt
the correct number
paragraph from the list of headings given below. Write
against each paragraph headings.
Streams and Rivers
The Wind
The Red Indians *****

A Strand in the Web of Life e******.*****

The Same Family

The Sacred Earth e***

Brothers Who Quench Our Thirst

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