Chief Seattle’s Speech 1854
About Chief Seattle
Chief Seattle (1786) – leader of the
Native American(Red Indians) of
Suquamish and Duwamish Tribe.
Powerful warrior & orator
Le Gross – The Big Guy (by Hudson’s
Bay Company)
The city of Seattle, in the U.S. state
of Washington, was named after
him.
He was also a holy and spiritual man
therefore he considered the land to
be holy and respects the land of his
ancestors
However what he actually said has
been lost through translation and
rewriting.
The present speech that we are
going to study is the translation by
Dr. Henry A. Smith which was
published in 1887.
About the Speech
It is a speech delivered by Chief
Seattle in 1854 at Washington. It
contains arguments for respect of
Native American’s land rights and
environmental values
Powerful speech – impact of its
expression
Bittersweet speech – beautifully
expressed the anguish of the
people.
This speech was a response to the
American Governor Stevens’
proposal of a land treaty with the
Red Indians.
Themes
 Concern of the Red
Indians
 Their perception of
nature
 Attachment to land
 Whiteman’s
Supremacy
 Ecological
sustainability
 Concept of God
Setting of the Speech
Style
 On the occasion when the
 Rhetorical (very Governor , Isaac Stevens
eloquent, or effective sends a proposal to buy
or persuasive speech ) their land.
 passionate and a  As a leader of their tribe
sorrow tone Chief Seattle makes this
speech in response to the
proposal.
 Delivers this speech in
Washington
 Attacks on the white man
Characters in the speech and his civilizational
standards
1. President Franklin Pierce
2. Governor Isaac Stevens (Commisioner
for Indian affairs for the Wahsington territory)
3. George Washington
(great/good/chief /good father)
Chief Seattle’s Speech
4. Paleface – White settlers
5. Red man – Native Americans
6. King George – king of United
(Changing time and Chief Seattle’s)
kingdom
 response to the White Chief
Yonder sky1 that has wept tears of
compassion2 upon my people for
centuries untold3, and which to us appears
changeless and eternal4, may change.
Today is fair5. Tomorrow it may be
overcast with clouds6. My words are like
the stars that never change. Whatever
Seattle says, the great chief at
Washington7 can rely upon with as much
certainty as he can upon the return of the
sun or the seasons. The white chief 8says

that Big Chief at Washington 9sends us greetings of friendship and goodwill. This is kind of him for we
know he has little need of our friendship in return. His people are many. They are like the grass that
covers vast prairies10. My people are few. They resemble the scattering trees of a storm-swept plain 11. The
great, and I presume -- good, White Chief 12sends us word that he wishes to buy our land but is willing to
allow us enough to live comfortably. This indeed appears just, even generous, for the Red Man no longer
has rights that he need respect, and the offer may be wise, also, as we are no longer in need of an
extensive country.

( untimely decay of the Native Americans and who are to be blamed)There was a time when our people
covered the land13 as the waves of a wind-ruffled sea14 cover its shell-paved floor15, but that time long
16
since passed away with the greatness of tribes 17that are now but a mournful memory18. I will not dwell
on, nor mourn over19, our untimely decay20, nor reproach 21my paleface brothers 22with hastening it, as we
too may have been somewhat to blame.

1
The sky there over our head
2
Has blessed my people / has been very sympathetic towards my people
3
For hundreds of years
4
Forever
5
Today the sky is clear.
6
Sky covered with clouds
7
Referred to the then George Washington whom the natives thought to be still alive
8
Governor Isaac Stevens
9
The president
10
Open areas of grass land
11
Few scattered trees standing on a piece of land left after a storm has destroyed it.
12
The governor
13
Native Americans who were numerous
14
The surface of the sea which is caressed gently by the wind ( refers to numerous native Americans that lived on this land)
15
The sea bed which is covered with shells (refers to the richness of the land)
16
Glorious time
17
When our tribes were great and magnificent
18
On recalling the memory we feel sad about it.
19
Feel sad
20
destroyed before usual time
21
Blame
22
White settlers
( How are these Native Americans responsible for their own destruction) Youth is impulsive23.
When our young men grow angry at some real or imaginary wrong24,
and disfigure their faces with black paint, it denotes that their hearts
are black25, and that they are often cruel and relentless26, and our old
men and old women are unable to restrain27 them. Thus it has ever
been28. Thus it was when the white man began to push our
forefathers29 ever westward. But let us hope that the hostilities30
between us may never return. We would have everything to lose and
nothing to gain. Revenge by young men is considered gain, even at
the cost of their own lives, but old men who stay at home in times of
war, and mothers who have sons to lose, know better.

(What next? Is there a way for the Native Americans?)

Our good father in Washington31--for I presume he is now our father as well as yours, since King George
has moved his boundaries further north--our great and good father32, I say, sends us word that if we do
as he desires he will protect us33.

Acceptance of sovereignty Protection from enemies Haidas Tsimshians

His brave warriors will be to us a bristling34 wall of strength, and his wonderful ships of war will fill our
harbors35, so that our ancient enemies far to the northward -- the Haidas and Tsimshians 36-- will cease37
to frighten our women, children, and old men. Then in reality he will be our father and we his children. But

23
Acting without thinking
24
Injustice
25
Violent warrior
26
Harsh and cruel and Incapable of goodness
27
control
28
This is how the things have taken place
29
Ancestors
30
Enmity / ill feelings towards each other
31
The president
32
The president
33
If we accept his sovereignty he will protect us.
34
Energetic
35
Place where ships are moored
36
Other Native American Tribes who were their enemies .
37
End /stop
can that ever be? 38Your God is not our God! Your God loves your people and hates mine! He folds his
strong protecting arms lovingly about the paleface and leads him by the hand as a father leads an infant
son. But, He has forsaken His Red children, if they really are His. Our God, the Great Spirit, seems also to
have forsaken us39. Your God makes your people wax stronger 40every day. Soon they will fill all the land.
Our people are ebbing41 away like a rapidly receding tide that will never return. The white man's God
cannot love our people or He would protect them. They seem to be orphans who can look nowhere for
help. How then can we be brothers? How can your God become our God and renew our prosperity 42and
awaken in us dreams of returning greatness43? If we have a common Heavenly Father He must be partial,
for He came to His paleface children. We never saw Him. He gave you laws but had no word for His red
children whose teeming multitudes once filled this vast continent as stars fill the firmament 44. No; we are
two distinct races with separate origins and separate destinies. There is little in common between us.

(Differences of religion and reverence for ancestors) To us the ashes45 of our ancestors are
sacred and their resting place is hallowed 46ground. You wander far from the graves of your ancestors and
seemingly without regret. Your religion was written upon tablets of stone by the iron finger of your God so
that you could not forget. The Red Man could never comprehend or remember it.

Religion of the Whites Religion of the Red Indians

written upon tablets of stone written in the hearts of the people.

Our religion is the traditions of our ancestors 47-- the dreams of our old men, given them in solemn
hours of the night by the Great Spirit; and the visions of our sachems48, and is written in the hearts of our
people.

49
Your dead cease to love you and the land of their nativity as soon as they pass the portals of the tomb
and wander away beyond the stars50. They are soon forgotten and never return.

38
Can we live together as brothers
39
Left us / abandon us
40
Grow stronger / Spread from one area to another like melting wax travels
41
Receding / decreasing
42
Return our wealth and prosperity
43
Your god is never be able to help us dream of returning to our former glory / happy days
44
Large number that filled this continent like the stars of the night sky.
45
Remains of their ancestors
46
holy
47
Our religion is our way of life
48
The chiefs of the red Indian people
49
Gateway
50
They leave this world as soon as they die
Our dead never forget this beautiful world that gave them being. They still love its verdant51 valleys, its
murmuring rivers52, its magnificent mountains53, sequestered54 vales and verdant lined lakes and bays,
and ever yearn55 in tender fond affection over the lonely hearted living, and often return from the happy
hunting ground to visit, guide, console, and comfort them.

(Two completely opposite peoples: The Native Americans and the Whites) Day and night cannot
dwell together. The Red Man has ever fled the approach of the White Man 56, as the morning mist flees
before the morning sun. However, your proposition seems fair and I think that my people will accept it
and will retire to the reservation you offer them 57. Then we will dwell apart in peace58, for the words of the
Great White Chief seem to be the words of nature speaking to my people out of dense darkness59.

(The end is near)It matters little where we pass the remnant of our days60. They will not be many. The
Indian's night promises to be dark61. Not a single star of hope 62hovers above his horizon. Sad-voiced
winds moan in the distance. 63Grim fate 64seems to be on the Red Man's trail65, and wherever he will hear
the approaching footsteps of his fell destroyer and prepare stolidly66 to meet his doom67, as does the
wounded doe68 that hears the approaching footsteps of the hunter.

(A common destiny) A few more moons, a few more winters 69, and not one of the descendants 70of
the mighty hosts71 that once moved over this broad land or lived in happy homes, protected by the Great
Spirit, will remain to mourn over the graves of a people once more powerful and hopeful than yours. But

51
Flourishing
52
Low distinct continuous sound of the river
53
Beautiful mountains
54
Secluded / lonely
55
Long for
56
The Red man had always run away on seeing the Whiteman
57
We will go and live in the territory you offered to us
58
Live away from you in peace
59
People living in a very pathetic condition/ living in darkness
60
Our days are numbered
61
From now on the night of the Native Americans are going to be dark
62
No hope
63
We can hear the sadness of the people in the voice of the wind
64
Death
65
Follow the red man wherever he goes
66
Without being upset
67
End/destruction
68
Female deer
69
Few more days / months / seasons/ years
70

71
Descendents = Chief Seattle and his people Mighty hosts = ancestors (original inhabitants of this land)
why should I mourn72 at the untimely fate of my people? Tribe follows tribe, and nation follows nation, like
the waves of the sea. It is the order of nature, and regret is useless. Your time of decay 73may be distant,
but it will surely come, for even the White Man whose God walked and talked with him as friend to friend,
cannot be exempt from the common destiny. We may be brothers after all. We will see.

(Conditions and rationales for the proposal)We will ponder your proposition 74and when we
decide we will let you know. But should we accept it, I here and now make this condition that we
will not be denied the privilege without molestation75 of visiting at any time the tombs of our
ancestors, friends, and children. Every part of this soil is sacred in the estimation of my people.
Every hillside, every valley, every plain and grove76, has been hallowed by some sad or happy
event in days long vanished.

Even the rocks, which seem to be dumb and dead as the swelter77 in the sun along the silent shore,
thrill with memories of stirring events connected with the lives of my people, and the very dust78
upon which you now stand responds more lovingly to their footsteps 79than yours, because it is rich
with the blood of our ancestors, and our bare feet are conscious80 of the sympathetic touch.

(A connection too strong to be broken) Our departed braves81, fond mothers, glad, happy
hearted maidens, and even the little children who lived here and rejoiced here for a brief season82,
will love these somber solitudes 83and at eventide84 they greet shadowy returning spirits85. And
when the last Red Man shall have perished, and the memory of my tribe shall have become a
myth86 among the White Men, these shores will swarm 87with the invisible dead of my tribe, and
when your children's children think themselves alone in the field, the store, the shop, upon the
highway, or in the silence of the pathless woods, they will not be alone. In all the earth there is no
place dedicated to solitude. At night when the streets of your cities and villages are silent and you
think them deserted, they will throng88 with the returning hosts that once filled them and still love
this beautiful land. The White Man will never be alone.

72
Feel sad
73
Your end / destiny
74
Think over your proposition
75
Harassment
76
forest
77
Become exceedingly hot
78
Ground / soil
79
Footsteps of my people
80
Aware
81
Dead warriors
82
For a short life span
83
Dark lonely place
84
Evening
85
Those spirits who have died and have returned to this place
86
Traditional folk tale/ story
87
These lands will be crowded
88
Fill in group / multitude
 Let him be just89 and deal kindly with my people, for the dead are not powerless. Dead, did I say?
There is no death, only a change of worlds.

Let’s sum up

 Nature’s sympathetic role in the Native American’s lives

 Youth’s impulsiveness
 Earth is sacred
 Ironic reference to George Washington as “Good Father”
 God of the Whit and the Great Spirit
 Ancestors, land and culture – sacred
 Common fate
 Condition to the proposal
 Whites will never be alone – land will be swarmed with the invisible
spirits of red Indians
 There is no death only change of worlds

89
Fair