"One With The Land" is a song loosely based on the Native American belief that we are all one with nature. Written by Rich Coffey, it was debutted by Vaneese Thomas on November 12th, 2006 at the First United Methodist Church in Stamford, CT.
read on... (below)
Vaneese Thomas
Rich Coffey
Vaneese Thomas (vocalist)
 
Rich Coffey (piano, composer)
 

about Rich Coffey
   
 
photography by Lisa Kennedy

 
 

About the Song
Rich Coffey explains:

One With The Land" was inspired by a speech that Chief Seattle -- a Native American -- gave before the U.S. Congress in 1854 as the white man forged westward devouring land and "colonizing" the frontier. It also was inspired by the beauty of the Pequonnock River Valley, an area I frequent almost every weekend, mountain biking with my son.

Debutting this song in a church helped tie the performance in with a spiritual theme of "Finding God In Nature" and the "Legitimacy of Diverse Spirituals Beliefs." We hope to debut other songs I have composed that are "spiritual" in nature in the months ahead.
 
Further Info on Chief Seattle's Speech
Chief Seattle was considered an early ecological visionary-- his impassioned words regarding the value of nature were based on the beliefs and insights of his people. The magnificent speech he delivered in 1854 was in response to President Franklin Pierce's representative when the United States government asked to purchase land from Seattle and his tribe. It was the speech of a man who had seen his world turned upside down in his own lifetime...The speech eloquently summarizes Native American spiritual belief that property can not be bought and sold -- it's God's land and therefore it is everybody's land. In essence: "This Earth is Precious... How can you buy or sell the sky, the warmth of the land? The idea is strange to us! "

http://www.kyphilom.com/www/seattle.html
http://www.halcyon.com/arborhts/chiefsea.html
audio version as well (link on page)
http://thegoldweb.com/voices/seattle.htm
(There are two versions of his speech - the second one is attributed to someone else...)
Native Americans - Interactive Studies


Colorful multimedia presentations replete with animations and music:

Maps detailing the evolution and diversity of Native North American Language Groups
Broken Promises - The Sad Saga of Deceit by our U.S. Government
Recommended Resources - books and websites related to Native American culture and history
 

 Native Americans (online discovery at the Knowledge Tree by Rich Coffey)
 
Further Info on Native American Spirituality

Historically, Native Americans' lives were shaped by their spiritual beliefs. Most Native people believed that they were connected to every other element of creation. Each animal, tree, or rock had its own spirit through which an individual could establish contact with the spirit world. The survival and well-being of Native people was dependent on maintaining harmony with the earth.

Connecticut RiverAccording to Native American spirituality, everything is imbued with spirit and there is a constant dialogue between all of these manifestations of creation. In order to survive, human beings must understand this dialogue, and they must be careful not to insult the spirits of the wind, or the earth. Native American beliefs stress the mutuality and interdependence between people and other forms of life. There is a mutual respectfulness required when interacting with trees, birds, and plants, as well as natural forces such as the wind and the rain.

Native Americans' creation myths also portray a different understanding about the place humans occupy vis-à-vis their animal, plant and mineral co-inhabitants of the earth. Rather than being given 'dominion' over all other creatures -- the animals, plants and minerals are companions to learn from and live with.

Many Native American people traditionally believe in a spiritual realm that exists beyond the tangible world. Access to this spiritual world is gained through dreams, visions, and ceremonies. Many Native people also believe in a single creative force. The name for this spiritual force varies from one group to another: it is called orenda (Or-END-a) by the Iroquois, manitou (MAN-e-too) by the Algonquin, and wakan (wah-KON) by the Lakota.

Although most native peoples worshiped an all-powerful, all-knowing Creator or "Master Spirit and believed in the immortality of the human soul and an afterlife -- there were real differences that must be kept in mind between the religious cultures of Indians and early modern Europeans (and Euro-Americans).

The most important idea is that Indians did not distinguish between the natural and the supernatural. On the contrary, Native Americans perceived the "material" and "spiritual" as a unified realm of being kind of extended kinship network. In their view, plants, animals and humans partook of divinity through their close connection with "guardian spirits," a myriad of "supernatural" entities who imbued their "natural" kin with life and power.

By contrast, Protestant and Catholic traditions were more inclined to emphasize the gulf that separated the pure, spiritual beings in heaven. God, the angels and saints were separate from sinful men and women who were tragically mired in a profane world filled with temptation and evil. read more in links below...

Links