Erika Townsend: You can’t eat or drink money

I cried when I read, “Trump reduces size of 2 national monuments in Utah” (Front page, Dec. 5). What is happening to the United States of America and its people?

Please read the poem, a Cree Indian prophesy.

“When the last tree is cut down,

The last fish eaten

and the last stream poisoned

You will realize

That you cannot eat money.”

Editor’s note: The website quoteinvestigator.com traces the poem to Alanis Obomsawin, a member of the Abenaki tribe of Canada, first published in 1972.

This story was originally published December 5, 2017 at 5:10 PM with the headline "Erika Townsend: You can’t eat or drink money."