I've always been interested in the ways people look at owning land.

Native Americans didn't think much of the idea and thought the white man was crazy to believe that he could actually lay claim to a piece of "mother earth." That's why they were perfectly willing to sell Manhattan Island for whatever beads the suckers were willing to pay.

It was, to them, like selling pieces of the sky, which was also free for anyone to use. If a stubborn white man wanted to own what belonged to all life forms, they would take his wampum in a New York minute.

This was true of the Osage tribe in Missouri, who never had any sense of ownership. So when Uncle Sam offered to buy and move them to Oklahoma, this bunch of brawny warriors--after consulting their wise old men--moved without a fight. That move, for a number of years, made them the richest group of people on earth. Uncle Sam had placed them on top of the oil wells in that state when oil was black gold. Of course when he realized what he had done, Uncle Sam tried to get it back. But once the Osage learned to play the white man's rules, they out-played the lawyers. If land was to be owned by men, the Osage figured somebody better earn it.

What reminded me of this was a story a friend sent me from England. It is set in the days when farmers called people "Your Lordship, Your Worship," and other names they didn't believe for a minute.

The Duke of Devonshire was out riding around his estate and saw an old man out walking along a bridle path, stopping now and then and leaning on his staff to admire the view.

The Duke rode up and asked, "Do you realize you are on private land?"

The man said, "I'm only takin' a walk to enjoy the spring. Is this thy land I'm walkin', then?"

"It's all mine," said the Duke, "and not only that, but my father's before me, and his father's before that, back to the first Duke of Devonshire in the year 1200."

"Think of that," said the man, "and never a bit of ploughin' done. You say you own the river yonder, the fish and birds, the hills, all these fallow fields and done naught to make it prosper?"

"It's mine as far as the eye can see," said the Duke proudly. "And I've no earthly need to farm it. Now off with you my man, before I call the gamekeepers."

The old man thought about it.

"Well, all right, but tell me then, your Dukeship, how did the first Duke earn this land?"

"Something you'd not understand," said the Duke. "He fought for it."

"Oh, well then," said the old man happily, "I understand it clear enough. Off with tha' coat now, this minute, and I'll fight thee for it."

Owning land, then as now, seems to be in the eye of the beholder.