This photograph was taken nearly forty years ago. It shows my beloved brother, Chief Leonard George of the Tsleil-Waututh Nation, our spiritual brother, Hugh Locke, Prince Philip, and me at a remarkable turning point in the relationship between spirituality and the protection of Mother Earth
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In September 1986, my brother Leonard and I journeyed to Assisi, Italy, for the 25th-anniversary gathering of the World Wide Fund for Nature as a guest of Prince Philip. Under the leadership of Prince Philip, then President of WWF International, spiritual leaders, conservationists, and representatives of many cultures gathered in the ancient home of Saint Francis of Assisi.
Assisi was chosen with great purpose. Saint Francis was remembered for walking gently upon the Earth, living simply and recognizing the birds, animals, waters, winds, and all living beings as relatives within one sacred creation. In that spirit, the gathering asked a profound question: Can humanity protect Mother Earth through science, laws, and technology alone, or must we also awaken the spiritual and moral foundations of environmental responsibility?
Five great religious traditions, Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism, Islam, and Judaism, responded by presenting what became known collectively as the Assisi Declarations. These were not merely scientific statements or political resolutions. Each tradition drew on its own sacred teachings to affirm humanity’s moral responsibility to protect the natural world.
The Buddhist declaration spoke of compassion and the interdependence of all life. The Christian declaration affirmed the sacredness of creation and humanity’s responsibility to serve as its faithful caretaker. The Hindu declaration described the spiritual unity joining humanity, the elements, the plants, the animals, and the whole cosmic order. The Islamic declaration taught that the universe belongs to the Creator and that human beings are trustees, accountable for maintaining its sacred balance. The Jewish declaration called humanity to accept limits, allow the Earth to rest, and participate responsibly in the continuing work of creation.
Each tradition spoke in its own spiritual language, but together they carried one unmistakable message: the natural world is not simply a collection of resources for human consumption. Mother Earth is sacred, life is interdependent, and humanity has been entrusted with responsibilities that cannot be ignored.
Prince Philip described what happened in Assisi as the forging of “a new and powerful alliance” between religion and conservation. It was a historic recognition that the environmental crisis is not only scientific, economic, or political. At its deepest level, it is a spiritual crisis—a crisis in humanity’s understanding of who we are and how we are related to the living world.
Our presence there as Indigenous leaders carried its own sacred meaning. Long before the modern environmental movement arose, Indigenous Peoples understood that our Mother Earth is alive, that all beings are related, and that human beings do not stand above creation. We belong within it. The waters are our relatives. The animals are our relatives. The forests, plants, winds, and sacred elements are members of one living family.
My beloved brother Chief Leonard George carried the spiritual inheritance of the Tsleil-Waututh People, whose ancestral relationship with the lands and waters of the Salish Sea reaches back beyond recorded history. I carried the teachings of my own Ihanktonwan and Chickasaw Nations, along with the evolving work of the Four Worlds International Institute.
We did not come to Assisi as observers. We came bringing teachings that Indigenous Peoples had protected through centuries of sacrifice, displacement, and profound historical suffering.
Brother Hugh Locke also played an important role in advancing the Assisi vision. At that time, Hugh served with the Bahá’í International Community. Through the dedicated work of Hugh and others, the Bahá’í Faith became the sixth major world religion to join WWF’s Network on Conservation and Religion in 1987.
The Bahá’í Statement on Nature affirmed that nature reflects the signs, qualities and majesty of the Creator. It connected environmental protection with the oneness of humanity, justice, peace, education, equality and the balanced advancement of spiritual and material civilization. Brother Hugh later joined Amatu’l-Bahá Rúhíyyih Khánum, wife of the Guardian of the Baha’i Faith, as the statement was formally presented to Prince Philip.
That was the deeper promise of Assisi: not that every religion would become the same, but that each spiritual tradition would awaken its followers to their sacred responsibilities and that all would cooperate in protecting our common home.
Now, forty years later, these sacred promises must be remembered, and renewed with far greater urgency.
Since we gathered in Assisi, the environmental crisis has deepened far beyond what most people then imagined. Forests have been destroyed. Rivers and oceans have been poisoned. Our animal and plant relatives are disappearing. Climate disruption is bringing devastating fires, floods, droughts, storms, and displacement. Indigenous Peoples continue to defend some of the world’s most vital ecosystems, frequently at great personal cost, while their knowledge and sovereignty are ignored.
At the same time, humanity possesses extraordinary scientific knowledge, communication systems, and technological power. We have more capacity than any previous generation to understand what is happening and to act together. Yet knowledge and technology, without spiritual maturity, accelerate destruction rather than prevent it.
The central question is therefore not only what humanity knows. It is what humanity loves, what humanity values, and what humanity is willing to change.
The journey that brought my brother Leonard and me to Assisi did not end in 1986. It has continued through Four Worlds, the Continental Indigenous Council, Compassion Games International, the renewal of sacred relationships among the Peoples of the Eagle, Condor, Hummingbird and Quetzal, and our ongoing efforts for peace, unity, justice, environmental protection and the well-being of future generations.
The same fundamental teaching has guided this work: development comes from within. Lasting transformation begins inside the human heart and spirit. From there, it moves outward into our families, communities, institutions, nations and relationships with Mother Earth.
We cannot heal our Mother Earth without healing the human family. We cannot protect nature while accepting war, poverty, racism, greed and the exploitation of vulnerable peoples. We cannot proclaim the sacredness of creation while organizing our economies around unlimited consumption. Spiritual and material development must walk together.
As the fortieth anniversary of Assisi approaches, I believe the time has come to call upon WWF and the participating religious communities to remember what was declared there. Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism, Islam, Judaism, the Bahá’í Faith, and all the spiritual traditions that later joined this growing alliance possess immense moral influence. Their teachings reach billions of people. Their lands, schools, institutions and communities can become powerful instruments of restoration.
But declarations must now become measurable action.
Let the forests, watersheds, oceans, wildlife and sacred places be protected. Let Indigenous Peoples be welcomed not simply as advisers, but as sovereign partners and guardians of living knowledge. Let the world’s religions examine their investments, consumption, lands and institutions in light of their own spiritual teachings. Let our children and youth be given not only warnings about the future, but genuine reasons for hope.
The photograph accompanying this reflection is therefore more than a remembrance of a beautiful gathering. It is a living witness to a promise made nearly forty years ago, a promise that spiritual responsibility and environmental action would walk together.
My beloved brother Chief Leonard George has now entered the Spirit World, but his presence and teachings remain alive. I remember him with deep love and gratitude. I remember Prince Philip, Brother Hugh Locke, and all those who helped open this pathway. Most of all, I remember the spirit of Assisi: many faiths and peoples gathering in humility around one sacred responsibility.
The time has come to gather again—not merely to commemorate what happened, but to renew it, strengthen it, and carry it forward.
Mother Earth is calling. The future generations are waiting. The sacred promise of Assisi remains before us.
Mitákuye Oyás’iŋ—We Are All Related.