The entire vast delta was an extravagant demonstration of natural abundance, a wealth of life flaunted without shame. Unspoiled, undamaged, ruled by her own natural law and subject only to her own will- the great void from which she sprang- the great mother earth took pleasure in creating and sustaining life in all its prolific diversity. But pillaged by a plundering dominion, raped of her resources, despoiled by unchecked pollution, and befouled by excess and corruption, her fecund ability to create and sustain life could be undone.
Though rendered sterile by destructive subjugation, her great productive fertility exhausted, the final irony would still be hers. Even barren and stripped, the destitute mother possessed the power to destroy what she had wrought. Dominion cannot be imposed; her riches cannot be taken without seeking her consent, wooing her cooperation and respecting her needs. Her will to life cannot be suppressed without paying the ultimate penalty. Without her, the presumptuous life she created could not survive.
-Jean M. Auel, Plains of Passage
