ided for them
abundantly. They believed in sharing their bounty with one another, and
this they did frequently with great ceremony. Then one fateful day, the
first group of yellow chilepeppers arrived from a foreign shore. At
first there was a mutual understanding between the newcomers and the
indigenous people. The red chilepeppers were very helpful in assisting
the newcomers to adapt to their new surroundings. In return, they were
given trinkets that sparkled, such as colored glass beads, hand mirrors
and such, the like of which they'd never set eyes on before. The red
chilepeppers were an innocent people, really quite primitive compared to
the sophisticated so-called civilized newcomers who, incidentally, were
very quick to take advantage of the childlike trust the red chilepeppers
displayed in their early contacts. They moved quickly to take full
advantage of these simple trustful souls. And as more and more yellow
chilepeppers arrived, they moved across the country taking whatever land
they needed without any regard for the previous occupants. This lead to
much fighting and eventual total conquest of the red chilepeppers who
were forced to give up their beautiful lands and moved to less desirable
areas. This broke their spirit, for they were once a very proud
people--roaming at will the vast prairies and forests. And to this day
they remain second-class citizens, really. Never able to assimilate into
the world of the yellow chilepeppers, nor ever able to return to the
total freedom they once knew."

"That has to be the saddest story I've ever heard," said Elephant.
"Those yellow chilepeppers are just rotten dogs! How could they treat
their fellow chilepeppers that way just because they were red instead of
yellow?"

"I assume that they were uncomfortable with people who they considered
'different,'" answered Ozma. "Also, they wanted the best land for
themselves."

"Anyway, that's not all," continued Tweaty. "After they took those lush
lands away from the rightful owners, they desecrated much of it over the
years, seeing it only as something to take from and to pour harsh
chemicals into for various reasons of their own. The red chilepeppers
had always blessed the land, given it thanks for its bounty and
replenished it when they took from it. Yet the yellow chilepeppers
considered them primitive and savage. And that's still not all! The
green chilepeppers went on to tell me about the treatment that _they_
received