Prophecy Page #3

---

And three times

they've turned us away.

You see, the end of this forest

is the end of my people.

Don't talk about the environment

as though it had nothing to do with us.

These people want us

to go with them.

They... have some things

they want to show us.

I think we should go.

- Is this your village?

- No.

This is the home

of Hector M'rai.

- My grandfather. -It's the last remnant

of how my people once lived.

I wanted you

to see this before you...

See what we've become.

My grandfather built this place,

and to him it's very sacred.

These are the people

from the government.

- How many?

- Well, there are two of us, sir.

Is that enough?

Well, we're, uh,

working very hard.

That good.

- Your home is very beautiful.

- Thank you.

Don't mistake

these tents for his home.

His home is

this whole forest.

Just three days ago

I was visiting a place...

Where there were 11 people

living in a single room.

- Oh, yes ?

- I just thought you should know.

What, that we are

asking too much?

That there are people in this world

fighting for a single inch of living space.

Yes, because they

fought too late.

This camp is

as the old people did it.

I'm teaching these

young people...

So that someone here

will remember.

There are underground tunnels

beneath the frost line...

To store perishables.

The forest

provides more food...

Than a man

could possibly need.

Here, everything

grows big.

Real big.

Well, I saw a salmon

that, uh, took my breath away.

Itisthe garden of eden.

I've let no one come here.

You are

the first to see it.

It's magical.

We were once

a magical people.

It's true. When I was a child,

every rock, every tree had a story.

The whole forest was

filled with legends.

- We heard about one of them.

- Yes?

Uh, "katydah" something.

- Katahdin.

- Katahdin is no legend.

My grandfather is the oldest person

in our tribe.

It's his duty

to foster these beliefs.

- I have seen him.

- And what does he look like?

He is part

of all things created,

And he bears a mark

of each of God's creatures.

You say that

with great affection.

He has wakened

to protect us.

Why are these logs

in here?

They come twice each year.

Then they disappear.

What is that?

He says he will show you why

he calls it the Garden of Eden.

Rob.

What's wrong?

- These are feeder roots.

They should be underground. - Here.

- It's a tadpole.

- I told you things grow big here.

- You've seen this before?

- No.

No one has seen them.

They're only in this pond.

What does this pond

feed into?

The Espee river.

That's where

the paper mill is.

This is the flume.

All the wood that's unfit

for lumberyards...

Is cut into sections, fed down this channel

into the grinding machines.

It's a very simple process

in a very conventional industry.

We even use stone grinders

to turn the logs into pulp.

Oh, let me give you a hand here,

Mrs. Vern.

Once here,

the pulp is bleached.

With the exception of grocery bags,

nobody likes paper that isn't white.

- What do you use to bleach it with?

- Chlorine.

But it stays right here

in the plant.

- None of it goes out into the water?

- No, sir, not a drop.

I'd like to see more.

This way.

- You all right?

- I'm fine.

You see now, when the pulp

gets down here,

It's pressed into sheets

and dried into paper.

You feel all right ?

You best stand over here, Mrs. Vern.

That sheet's traveling

3,000 feet a minute.

Now, you see,

the pulp is fibrous.

When it's dry, those fibers interconnect,

forming a solid.

And the only chemical

you use in this plant is chlorine ?

Yes. Oh, no.

Excuse me.

There's a caustic solution

that's used in the grinding process,

But it's biodegradable, approved by the E.P.A.,

and it doesn't go into the watershed.

Well, I guess

that's it, Mrs. Vern.

- Thank you.

- Well, clean as a whistle, huh?

Thank you, sir.

- Tell me something.

- Yeah.

What happens to the trees

before they get here?

They get floated down the river

to the plant here.

That's it? You don't

hold them anywhere?

- Yeah, if we get stacked up.

- Where do you hold them?

- Oh, various places.

- Ponds?

- You hold 'em in ponds?

- Probably. Softens 'em up to soak 'em.

Do you, uh, soak them

in chemicals?

Well, you're gettin'

out of my area here.

Transport's handled

by a private contractor.

- I asked you a question.

- Well, I'm answerin' your question.

You're responsible for whatever effluent

goes out of this plant.

You hire the contractors,

you sell the product.

- You're accountable for whatever goes on here.

- Rob, stop it.

Now just--

H-How many pages in this report

you're gonna write?

- I asked you a question.

- Now let me ask you a question.

How many pages, a hundred?

How many copies? A thousand, maybe?

I wanna know what chemicals

you're using.

We're talking about a hundred thousand pieces

of paper just for your report.

Am I far off? Huh?

And h-How many sheets of paper are in all those

filing cabinets in Washington?

- You're not answering me.

- I am answering you!

Now, I supply

what you demand.

You're responsible too.

Unless you want to start fillin'

your filing cabinets with rocks...

And wipin' your nose

with cactus--

- I wanna know what you soak the logs in.

- What chemical? None.

- I don't believe that!

- Then you take water samples. That's what we do.

Yes, sir. Now, look. If those logs were

soaked in chemicals,

It would squeeze out

in the pulpin' process...

Right into the watershed

in front of this plant.

Now, we test that water

every ten days,

And there's not a damn thing floating out there

that we don't know about...

Or anything that's harmful

to the environment.

- Now, excuse me, Mrs. Vern.

- That's okay.

Go on! Go test the water!

We got nothing to hide!

Let it down.

Take it in there.

I told you

to watch the time.

Yeah.

You okay? Hold the boat.

Let's get 'em in there.

Get 'em outta here.

Sorry about that. I didn't... realize.

We tried to tell ya.

I know you did. It's my fault.

Okay, let's go, boys.

Move it out.

- I believe him.

- Why?

Why would he have offered

to let you test the water?

Maybe it wasn't

in the water.

- Huh?

- Maybe it's heavier than water.

That silvery stuff

on your boot.

Is it dry?

Yes.

They gave us a trick question

in medical school.

"What's the only liquid

in the world that isn't wet?"

What was the answer?

Mercury.

"Inorganic methylmercury

known as pmt.

"Used as a de-Sliming agent that collects algae

and prevents it from forming...

"On preprocessed timber.

"Its widespread use

discontinued in 1956...

"When evidence

of its fatal effects...

Were seen in the deaths of 100,000 people

in Minamata, Japan."

Goddamn.

Rob,

what is it?

It's methylmercury poisoning,

that's what it is.

This whole place

has been contaminated.

How do you know?

The Indians

eat the fish,

And they behave like they're drunk

when they haven't had a drop of liquor.

That raccoon convulsing and turning vicious,

Rate this script:0.0 / 0 votes