“There is no ‘better’ or ‘worse,’ only different. That difference has to be respected whether it’s skin color, way of life, or ideas. The Chumash have a story about this.

It begins with a worm

who is eaten by a bird.

The bird is eaten by a cat

whose self-satisfaction is disrupted by a mean-looking dog.

After devouring the cat, the dog is killed by a grizzly bear

who congratulates himself for being the strongest of all. About that time comes a man who kills the bear

and climbs a mountain to proclaim his ultimate superiority.

He ran so hard up the mountain that he died at the top.

Before long the worm crawled out of his body.”

Kote Lotah