Chief Seattle (1786-1866)

Once again, the white man has come to take advantage of the nice Indians. Chief Seattle was pretty sarcastic about the offer to give them a reservation and safety for their land when it was inevitable anyways.

“This seems generous, since the red man no longer has rights he need respect.” It’s hard to tell if he’s being serious or just giving up cause there’s nothing him and his people can do to stop the white man. It seems all the white men would do was lie and lie to the Indians to get whatever they wanted.

“But I will not mourn the passing of my people. Nor do I blame our white brother for causing it.” I laughed out loud a bit when I read that line. The white men certainly didn’t do anything to keep the Indians from dying. When the young Indians would try to fight back they always lost, but at least they always died with pride.

“So how can we be brothers? How can your father be our father and make us prosper and send us dreams of future greatness? Your God is prejudiced.” He makes a valid point. God seemed to have given white men the Book, but he forgot the Indians? If the white men would call the Indians their brothers, then how come they get treated so differently than the way the way white men would treat each other?

“To us the ashes of our fathers are sacred. Their graces are holy ground. But you are wanderers, you leave your fathers’ graves behind you, and you do not care.” He seemed appalled that white men would leave the land where their ancestors had died and move clear around the world to start a new life. This really makes me think about how we think so differently about our great ancestors and could leave them so easily, when it’s so hard for the Indians.

The end of his speech scared me a bit, now I’ll be thinking of Indian spirits all around me when I think I’m alone. Spooky.