"The Unanimous Declaration of Interdependence"

When is the course of Evolution it becomes necessary for one species to 
denounce the notion of independence from all the rest, and to assume 
among the powers of the earth the interdependent station to which the 
natural laws of the cosmos have placed them, a decent respect for the 
opinions of all mankind requires that they should declare the conditions 
which impel them to assert their interdependence.

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all species have evolved 
with equal and unalienable rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, 
and the Pursuit of Happiness. -- That to insure these rights, nature has 
instituted certain principles for the sustenence of all species, deriving 
these principles from the capabilities of the planet's life support 
system. -- That whenever any behavior of members of one species becomes 
destructive of these principles, it is the function of other members of 
that species to alter or abolish such behavior and to reestablish the 
theme of interdependence with all life, in such a form and in accordance 
with those natural principles, that will effect their safety and 
happiness.  Prudence, indeed, will dictate that cultural values long 
established should not be altered for light and transient causes, Mankind 
is more disposed to suffer from asserting a vain notion of independence 
than to right themselves by abolishing that culture to which they are now 
accustomed. -- But when a long train of abuses and insurpations of these 
principles of interdependence envinces a subtle design to reduce them, 
through absolute despoilation of the planet's fertility, to a state of ill 
will, bad health, and great anxiety, it is their right, it is their duty, 
to throw off such notions of independence from other species and from the 
life support system and to provide new guards for the re-establishment 
of the security and maintenance of these principles.  Such has been the 
quiet and patient sufferage of all the species, and such is now the 
necessity which constrains the species Homo Sapiens to reassert the 
principles of interdependence. -- The history of the present notion of 
independence is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having 
in direct effect the establishment of an absolute tyranny over life.

To prove this let facts be submitted to a candid world.

1.  People have refused to recognize the roles of other species and the 
    importance of natural principles for growth of the food they require.
2.  People have refused to recognize that they are interacting with other 
    species in an evolutionary process.
3.  People have fouled the waters that all life partakes of.
4.  People have the face of the earth to enhance their notion of 
    independence from it and in so doing have interrupted many natural 
    processes that they are dependant upon.
5.  People have contaminated the common household with substances that are 
    foreign to the life process which are causing many organisms great 
    difficulties.
6.  People have massacred and extincted fellow species for their feathers 
    and furs, for their skins and tusks.
7.  People have persecuted most persistantly those known as coyote, lion, 
    wolf, and fox because of their dramatic role in the expression of 
    interdependence.
8.  People are proliferating in such as irresposible manner as to 
    threaten the survival of all species.
9.  People have warred upon one another, which has brought great sorrow to 
    themselves and vast destruction to the homes and the food supplies of 
    many living things.  
10. People have denied others the right to live to completion their 
    interdepencies to the full extent of their capabilities.

We therefore, among the mortal representatives of the eternal process of 
life and evolutionary principles, in mutual humbleness explicitly stated, 
appealing to the ecological consciousness of the world for the rectitude 
of our intentions, do solemnly publish and declare that all species are 
interdependent; that they are all free to realize these relationships to 
the full extent of their capabilities; that each species is subservient 
to the requirement of the natural processes that sustain all life.  And 
for the support of this declaration with a firm reliance on all other 
members of our species who understand their consciousness as a 
capability, to assist all of us and our brothers and sisters to interact 
in order to realize a life process that manifests its maximum potential 
of diversity, vitality and planetary fertility to ensure the continuity 
of life on earth.

Ecology Action Education Institute

from _Earth Festivals_ 
by Delores LaChapelle and Janet Bourque
copyright 1973
