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Chief Seattle SpeechOn January 11, 2007 I woke up with the words “Chief Seattle” so strong in my mind that it stayed with me for several days.As the days paed, I kept wondering why the name was so strong? As destiny would have it, the name surfaced from three different sources, which led me to the following statement of Chief Seattle.In 1851 Chief Seattle and his people were persuaded to sell two million acres of land in Washington State for $150,000 to the U.S.Government.This is his response, which has been described as a “heartfelt love” for the Creator and the environment.There is a strong meage in his powerful words.___________________________________________________________________Chief Seattle Speech(1851 Response)How can you buy or sell the sky, the warmth of the land? The idea is strange to us.If we do not own the freshne of the air and the sparkle of the water, how can you buy them? Every part of this earth is sacred to my people.Every shining pine needle, every sandy shore, every mist in the dark woods, every clearing and humming insect is holy in the memory and experience of my people.The sap, which courses through the trees carries the memories of the red man.The white man's dead forget the country of their birth when they go to walk among the stars.Our dead never forget this beautiful earth, for it is the mother of the red man.We are part of the earth and it is part of us.The perfumed flowers are our sisters;the deer, the horse, the great eagle, these are our brothers.The rocky crests, the juices in the meadows, the body heat of the pony, and man---all belong to the same family.So, when the Great Chief in Washington sends word that he wishes to buy our land, he asks much of us.The Great Chief sends word he will reserve us a place so that we can live comfortably to ourselves.He will be our father and we will be his children.1
So, we will consider your offer to buy our land.But it will not be easy.For this land is sacred to us.This shining water that moves in the streams and rivers is not just water but the blood of our ancestors.If we sell you the land, you must remember that it is sacred, and you must teach your children that it is sacred and that each ghostly reflection in the clear water of the lakes tells of events and memories in the life of my people.The water's murmur is the voice of my father's father.The rivers are our brothers, they quench our thirst.The rivers carry our canoes, and feed our children.If we sell you our land, you must remember, and teach your children, that the rivers are our brothers and yours, and you must henceforth give the rivers the kindne you would give any brother.We know that the white man does not understand our ways.One portion of land is the same to him as the next, for he is a stranger who comes in the night and takes from the land whatever he needs.The earth is not his brother, but his enemy, and when he has conquered it, he moves on.He leaves his father's grave behind, and he does not care.He kidnaps the earth from his children, and he does not care.His father's grave, and his children's birthright are forgotten.He treats his mother, the earth, and his brother, the sky, as things to be bought, plundered, sold like sheep or bright beads.His appetite will devour the earth and leave behind only a desert.I do not know.Our ways are different than your ways.The sight of your cities pains the eyes of the red man.There is no quiet place in the white man's cities.No place to hear the unfurling of leaves in spring or the rustle of the insect's wings.The clatter only seems to insult the ears.And what is there to life if a man cannot hear the lonely cry of the whippoorwill or the arguments of the frogs around the pond at night? I am a red man and do not understand.The Indian prefers the soft sound of the wind darting over the face of a pond and the smell of the wind itself, cleaned by a midday rain, or scented with pinon pine.The air is precious to the red man for all things share the same breath, the beast, the tree, the man, they all share the same breath.The white man does not seem to notice the air he breathes.Like a man dying for many days he is numb to the stench.But if we sell you our land, you must remember that the air is precious to us that the air shares its spirit with all the life it supports.The wind that gave our grandfather his first breath also receives his last sigh.And if we sell you our land, you must keep it apart and sacred as a place where even the white man can go to taste the wind that is sweetened by the meadow's flowers.So we will consider your offer to buy our land.If we decide to accept, I will make one conditionThere is no death, only a change of worlds.There are many versions and excerpts from this text, including a wholly fraudulent version mentioning buffalo and the interconnectedne of all life which was written by a Hollywood screenwriter in the late 70's and which has gained wide currency.The bogus version has been quoted by individuals as prominent and diverse as former U.S.President Bush and Joseph Campbell.(Joseph Campbell: 1904-1987 American mythologist & folklorist)
At the time this speech was made it was commonly believed by whites and as well by many Indians that Native americas would inevitably become extinct.
