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engine of souls | forum -> AP United States History -> Primary Source #12: Chief Seattle's Oration
Post Info TOPIC: Primary Source #12: Chief Seattle's Oration
mr e

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Primary Source #12: Chief Seattle's Oration
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Chief Seattle, Oration (1854)

Seattle (17901866) was the famous chief of several Native American peoples who resided in the Pacific Northwest. He allegedly delivered the following speech a year before he signed a treaty ceding Indian lands to the United States. The speech has been widely reproduced, although its authenticity has been challenged.

. . . Yonder sky that has wept tears of compassion upon my people for centuries untold, and which to us appears changeless and eternal, may change. Today is fair. Tomorrow it may be overcast with clouds. My words are like the stars that never change. Whatever Seattle says the great chief at Washington can rely upon with as much certainty as he can upon the return of the sun or the seasons. The White Chief says that Big Chief at Washington sends 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 prairies. My people are few. They resemble the scattering trees of a storm-swept plain. The great, and-I presume-good White Chief sends us word that he wishes to buy our lands 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.

There was a time when our people covered the land as the waves of a wind-ruffled sea cover its shell-paved floor, but that time long since passed away with the greatness of tribes that are now but a mournful memory. I will not dwell on nor mourn over, our untimely decay, nor reproach my paleface brothers with hastening it as we too may have been somewhat to blame.

Youth is impulsive. When our young men grow angry at some real or imaginary wrong, and disfigure their faces with black paint, it denotes that their hearts are black, and that they are often cruel and relentless, and our old men and old women are unable to restrain them. Thus has ever been. Thus it was when the White Men first began to push our forefathers further westward. But let us hope that the hostilities 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.

Our good father at Washington-for I presume he is now our father as well as yours . . . sends us word that if we do as he desires he will protect us. His brave warriors will be to us a bristling wall of strength, and his wonderful ships of war will fill our harbors so that our ancient enemies far to the northward-the Hydas and Tsimpsians,-will cease to frighten our women, children, and old men. Then in reality will he be our father and we his children. But can that ever be? Your 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 his infant son-but He has forsaken His red children-if they really are his. Our God, the Great Spirit, seems also to have forsaken us. Your God makes your people wax strong every day. Soon they will fill all the land. Our people are ebbing 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 and awaken in us dreams of returning greatness? 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. No; we are two distinct races with separate origins and separate destinies. There is little in common between us.

To us the ashes of our ancestors are sacred and their resting place is hallowed ground. You wander far from the graves of your ancestors and seemingly without regret. Your religion was written upon tables of stone by the iron finger of your God so that you could not forget. The Red Man could never comprehend nor remember it. Our religion is the traditions of our ancestors-the dreams of our old men, given them in solemn hours of night by the Great Spirit; and the visions of our sachems, and is written in the hearts of our people.

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 stars. They are soon forgotten and never return. Our dead never forget the beautiful world that gave them being. They still love its verdant valleys, its murmuring rivers, its magnificent mountains, sequestered vales and verdant lined lakes and bays, and even yearn in tender, fond affection over the lonely heartened living, and often return from the Happy Hunting Ground to visit, guide, console and comfort them.

Day and night cannot dwell together. The Red Man has ever fled the approach of the White Man, 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. Then we will dwell apart in peace. . . .


It matters little where we pass the remnant of our days. They will not be many. The Indians' night promises to be dark. Not a single star of hope hovers above his horizon. Sad-voiced winds moan in the distance. Grim fate seems to be on the Red Man's trail, and wherever he goes he will hear the approaching footsteps of his fell destroyer and prepare stolidly to meet his doom, as does the wounded doe that hears the approaching footsteps of the hunter.

. . . But why would I mourn 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 may be distant, but it will surely come, for even the White Man whose God walked and talked with him as friend with friend, cannot be exempt from the common destiny. We may be brothers after all. We will see.

We will ponder your proposition and 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 molestation of visiting at any time the tombs of our ancestors, friends, and children. . . .

And when the last Red Man shall have perished, and the memory of my tribe shall have become a myth among the White Men, these shores will swarm with the invisible dead of my tribe, and when your children's children think themselves alone in the field, the store, the ship, 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 throng with the returning hosts that once filled them and still love this beautiful land. The White Man will never be alone.

Let him be just 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.

Document Analysis

  1. How does Seattle summarize relations between the native peoples and white people? Is his overall tone hopeful? Why or why not?
  2. The excerpt concludes with the assertion that the white man will never be alone. What does Seattle mean by that observation?
  3. Research one other primary source quotation from a Native American concerning American westward expansion or its impact.  Compare the two and explain if there are any similarities or differences.  Explain each in context.  Use the following website to aid you in answering this question: http://www.engineofsouls.com/bury.html


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Kelby

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1. How does Seattle summarize relations between the native peoples and white people? Is his overall tone hopeful? Why or why not?

Seattle talks about relations of native people and whites in a negative manner. He is distrustful of the President and the white people in general. He basically is talking about how the whites have taken over Indian land and pushed the Native Americans onto a small portion of land, the Reservation, after taking over all of the land that used to belong to the Native Americans. He compares the differences in culture and religion of the whites and the Native Americans. He believes that the whites will keep pushing the Native American until the whites occupy all of the available land. He says that the whites and the Native Americans are two distinct races with separate origins and separate destinies and that they have little in common. His tone is not hopeful and this is evident when he writes that there is not a single star of hope that hovers over the horizon. He also writes that sad-voiced winds moan in the distance and that grim fate seems to be on the Red Mans trail and that wherever he goes he will hear the footsteps of his destroyer.

2. The excerpt concludes with the assertion that the white man will never be alone. What does Seattle mean by that observation?

When Seattle says that the white man will never be alone he means that the Indian memory and the injustice placed on them will haunt the white man forever. Since Native Americans believe that the spirit of the dead lives on ,Seattle tells the white man that the spirit of the Indian dead will be everywhere and there will be no solitude.

3. Research one other primary source quotation from a Native American concerning American Westward expansion or its impact. Compare the two and explain if there are any similarities or differences. Explain each in context.

The source quotation that I am using as an analysis is from Tecumseh of Shawnees:
Where are the Pequot? Where are the Naragansett, the Mohican, the Pokanoket, and many others once powerful tribes of our people? They have vanished before the avarice and the oppression of the white man, as snow before a summer sun. Will we let ourselves be destroyed in our turn without a struggle, give up our homes, our country bequeathed to us by the Great Spirit the graves of our dead and everything that is dear and sacred to us? I know you will cry with me Never Never.

Tecumseh like Seattle is saddened by the loss of land by the Indians to the white man. He too talks about the loss of Indian population when he mentions the many tribes that have been extinguished. Seattle also mentions that the number of Indians are few now. He says how they used to cover the land but that that time has long past just as the greatness of tribes that are now just a memory. Both Seattle and Tecumseh talk about the Indian belief in the Great Spirit and how the graves of their ancestors are sacred. The difference between the two source writings is that Seattle seems to be defeated and accepts his current situation of being confined to the reservation without putting up a fight but Tecumseh is talking to his people and asking them to resist and to fight for what belongs to them when he talks about being destroyed as a people and giving up everything given to them by the Great Spirit and everything that they hold dear and sacred. He asks his people to cry Never, Never which is a plea to fight for what is theres.


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Valdir

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1. Seattle summarizes white and Indian relations tragically. His tone is very gloomy and ominous, and its clear that his faith in Indian-kind is faltering. He states in his oration the President and the white man, and their empty promises and conniving ways. To him, the clash of cultures has been almost doomed from the start and certainly doomed at the moment. Maybe Indian days are numbered. Maybe the white man is Gods chosen people; maybe not. In many ways the speech sounds like a farewell address; a goodbye to his sacred lands, relatives, and the memories of yore. But, Seattle leaves his people with consoling and reassuring words: At night when the streets of your cities and villages are silent and you think them deserted, they will throng with the returning hosts that once filled them and still love this beautiful land. The White Man will never be alone. Let him be just 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. He echoes in this text sentiments kept for thousands of years. He bids a dismal goodbye to his people, but never relinquishes his sense of hope, probably the only thing the invaders couldnt corrupt.

2. Seattle means to say that the Indian spirit of the dead will live on alongside the white man as long as the country remains. As long as the grass is still green and water running in streams, the Indian verve will never perish from the land. Their love for it was too dear and intimate for any white man to take away. They will never be alone for what they did could never be forgotten.

3. A quote by Red Cloud of the Oglala Sioux resonates the same feelings Seattle expresses: Whose voice was first sounded on this land? The voice of the red people who had but bows and arrows.What has been done in my country I do not want, did not ask for it; white people going through my country.When the white man comes to my country he leaves a trail of blood behind him.I have two mountains in that country - the Black Hills and the Big Horn Mountain. I want the Great Father to make no roads through them. I have told these things three times; now I have come here to tell them the fourth time. Both Natives are disheartened by the horror and wickedness the whites have brought with them from foreign lands. A once wondrous continent has been molested and has sunk into desolation. Unlike Seattle, the sense of misery in this excerpt isnt offset by words of inspiration. The invaders have destroyed the country and all must suffer. This, above all, is what the excerpt resounds.  

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Dan S.

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  1. He says that white man is moving in on their territory and is taking over everything but has generously given some land for reservations.  In other words he is saying the time of the red man is ending and the white mans is coming.  His overall tone is in a way hopeful for the fact that they will live on in another form like spirits and is sad but does not regret the passing of his people for it was apparently destiny.
  2. He means that even though the Native Americans may die physically, they will live on as spirits, unseen, all around the white man.
  3. A quote from Donehogawa (Ely Parker) who was the first Indian Commissioner of Indian Affairs had a different view on the situation: Although this country was once wholly inhabited by Indians, the tribes, and many of them once powerful, who occupied the countries now constituting the states east of the Mississippi, have, one by one, been exterminated in their abortive attempts to stem the westward march of civilization.If any tribe remonstrated against the violation of their natural and treaty rights, members of the tribe were inhumanly shot down and treated as mere dogs.It is resumed that humanity dictated the original policy of the removal and concentration of the Indians in the West to save them from threatened extinction. But today, by reason of the immense augmentation of the American population, and the extension of their settlements throughout the entire West, covering both slopes of the Rocky Mountains, the Indian races are more seriously threatened with a speedy extermination than ever before in the history of the country. He does not see the white man as a friend but as oppressive in their actions against Indian demonstration of their removal.  He states that the white men are contradicting themselves when they use of policy of removal, that was suppose to help preserve the Indian nation elsewhere, to justify their inhumane actions against them.  The last point he mentions is that he does not see the it as destiny that the Indians are dying but as an extermination.


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Patrick

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1. Seattle speaks of "the white man" as an immense power. His tone though gloomy it is also understanding. He believes that relations between the whites and natives were never steady. Even though he is upset at the whites for taking his land he does not blame the alone. He also blames the hot headed youth of the natives. Although he is seeing his land be depleted he has an overall glinpse of hope. He believes that as the natives they shall always be with the whites in their cities just in a different world.

2. He means that as the natives leave this physical world they will always be with the whites as spirits.

3. Tonkahaska (Tall Bull) to General Winfield Scott Han**** - We never did the white man any harm; we don't intend toWe are willing to be friends with the white man.The buffalo are diminishing fast. The antelope, that were plenty a few years ago, they are now thin. When they shall all die, we shall be hungry; we shall want something to eat, and we will be compelled to come into the fort. Your young men must not fire at us; whenever they see us they fire, and we fire on them.
        In this Tonkahaska is blaming their loss of land solely on the white man, but Seattle believes the youth is to blame as well.
    "Youth is impulsive. When our young men grow angry at some real or imaginary wrong, and disfigure their faces with black paint, it denotes that their hearts are black, and that they are often cruel and relentless, and our old men and old women are unable to restrain them."

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Anonymous

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Document Analysis

  1. How does Seattle summarize relations between the native peoples and white people? Is his overall tone hopeful? Why or why not?
  2. The excerpt concludes with the assertion that the white man will never be alone. What does Seattle mean by that observation?
  4. Research one other primary source quotation from a Native American concerning American westward expansion or its impact.  Compare the two and explain if there are any similarities or differences.  Explain each in context.  Use the following website to aid you in answering this question: http://www.engineofsouls.com/bury.html


1. Seattle sadly summarized relations between the native peoples and white people. His overall tone is not hopeful. He tries to look on the bright side, and cite the fact that the white men have left his people a small amount of land for Indian Reservations. His overall tone, however, is not hopeful because in this passage he states, "Not a single star of hope hovers above his horizon. Sad-voiced winds moan in the distance."

2. By this observation, he means that since the white men took their land, they will never be by themselves on it. The spirts and souls of the Native American peoples will continue to stay with them, on their land.

3. Shunkaha Napin (Wolf Necklace) - I never want to leave this country; all my relatives are lying here in the ground. And when I fall to pieces I am going to fall to pieces here.


With this quote, there are many comparable points. In this quote it say that Wolf Necklace won't ever leave this country, and in the other quote, Seattle is saying how when he dies, he will still come back to stay in this land. This quote is somewhat different though, because he seems to try hard to keep the white men out of his land, rather than try and agree with them, and be thankful for the small amount he probably received.



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Breanne

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Quote | Reply
RE: Primary Source #12: Chief Seattle's Oration

Document Analysis

  1. How does Seattle summarize relations between the native peoples and white people? Is his overall tone hopeful? Why or why not?
  2. The excerpt concludes with the assertion that the white man will never be alone. What does Seattle mean by that observation?
  4. Research one other primary source quotation from a Native American concerning American westward expansion or its impact.  Compare the two and explain if there are any similarities or differences.  Explain each in context.  Use the following website to aid you in answering this question: http://www.engineofsouls.com/bury.html


1. Seattle sadly summarized relations between the native peoples and white people. His overall tone is not hopeful. He tries to look on the bright side, and cite the fact that the white men have left his people a small amount of land for Indian Reservations. His overall tone, however, is not hopeful because in this passage he states, "Not a single star of hope hovers above his horizon. Sad-voiced winds moan in the distance."

2. By this observation, he means that since the white men took their land, they will never be by themselves on it. The spirts and souls of the Native American peoples will continue to stay with them, on their land.

3. Shunkaha Napin (Wolf Necklace) - I never want to leave this country; all my relatives are lying here in the ground. And when I fall to pieces I am going to fall to pieces here.


With this quote, there are many comparable points. In this quote it say that Wolf Necklace won't ever leave this country, and in the other quote, Seattle is saying how when he dies, he will still come back to stay in this land. This quote is somewhat different though, because he seems to try hard to keep the white men out of his land, rather than try and agree with them, and be thankful for the small amount he probably received.




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Alexa

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1. Seattle summarizes the relations between the white people and the native people in a sad tone. He feels a small chance of hope that one day the two might live in harmony at one point. He says When our young men grow angry at some real or imaginary wrong, and disfigure their faces with black paint, it denotes that their hearts are black, and that they are often cruel and relentless, and our old men and old women are unable to restrain them He means that Youthful Indians have a longing for adventure and probably provoked the white men.

2. I  believe he means that the spirits of the Indians tribes will be with the white men.

3. Wamditanka (Big Eagle) of the Santee Sioux - The whites were always trying to make the Indians give up their life and live like the white men - go to farming, work hard and do as they did - and the Indians did not know how to do that, and did not want to anyway.If the Indians had tried to make the whites live like them, the whites would have resisted, and it was the same with many Indians.

The two have very different outlooks on the matter. Big Eagle thinks that it is all the white mens fault and that the Indians just did what they had to do, whereas Seattle equally distributes the blame.


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Chris

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How does Seattle summarize relations between the native peoples and white people? Is his overall tone hopeful? Why or why not?

Chief Seattle describes the relationship between the Red and White men as being completely separate and distant saying No; we are two distinct races with separate origins and separate destinies. There is little in common between us. and They (the native peoples) seem to be orphans who can look nowhere for help. How then can we be brothers? His oration seems to depict a more negative and dismal image as the white men continue to encroach upon his peoples land. He says that the white mans relationship to the natives will lead to the final destruction of his once proud people by saying It matters little where we pass the remnant of our days. They will not be many.


The excerpt concludes with the assertion that the white man will never be alone. What does Seattle mean by that observation?

When Seattle says that the white men will never be alone, he is referring to the

memory of his peoples deceased and how they linger even after their death in the world that gave them being. He describes this statement by saying these shores will swarm with the invisible dead of my tribe, and when your children's children think themselves alone in the field, the store, they will not be alone. He could also be describing how the memory of his people will live much longer than that of his people, when the last Red Man shall have perished, and the memory of my tribe shall have become a myth among the White Men.

Research one other primary source quotation from a Native American concerning American westward expansion or its impact. Compare the two and explain if there are any similarities or differences. Explain each in context.

From the two accounts of both Seattle and Chief Motavato (Black Kettle) are stunningly similar in the respects that they both wanted to make peace with the white men, but lost faith in them and in tern lost hope for the survival of his people. Black Kettle describes his relationship with the whites by saying We were once friends with the whites, but you nudged us out of the way by your intrigues. Similarly Seattle says Our good father at Washington-for I presume he is now our father as well as yours . . . sends us word that if we do as he desires he will protect usHe (the white mans god) folds his strong protecting arms lovingly about the paleface and leads him by the hand as a father leads his infant son-but He has forsaken His red children-if they really are his. The main differences between these two chiefs writings is the fact that Seattle writes mainly about the spiritual differences between the two races while Black kettle talks about the political and social differences between his and the white people.



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Joanna

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How does Seattle summarize relations between the native peoples and white people? Is his overall tone hopeful? Why or why not?

Seattle summarizes the relations between the native peoples and white people as a complicated relationship. The natives can not trust the white people, because they seem overpowering and controlling the different tribes. For example the white men are always trying to have the natives sign treaties to get them off their land or whatever else they feel they need. The white people view the natives as annoying uncivilized people who are in the way of urbanizing this country. Others thought that they were a waste of a space because they were not Christian therefore they would be damned. Seattles overall tone is not hopeful. He has given up hope. For example Seattle stated that His people are many. They are like the grass that covers vast prairies. My people are few. They resemble the scattering trees of a storm-swept plain. He knows that his tribe is weak and the only way to keep the peace with the white man is to live on the reservation, because according to Seattle the natives and whites cannot mix. It is like night and day the two have to be separated in order to live. It just works better that way.

The excerpt concludes with the assertion that the white man will never be alone. What does Seattle mean by that observation?

Seattle basically says that his people will not die completely, even though they are physically gone. There spirits will live on forever, in the real world. They will always be there. You cant just forget about them like the white men do to their own kind.

Research one other primary source quotation from a Native American concerning American westward expansion or its impact. Compare the two and explain if there are any similarities or differences. Explain each in context. Use the following website to aid you in answering this question: http://www.engineofsouls.com/bury.html

Ohcumgache (Little Wolf) of the Northern Cheyennes - We have been south and suffered a great deal down there. Many have died of diseases which we have no name for. Our hearts looked and longed for this country where we were born. There are only a few of us left, and we only wanted a little ground, where we could live. We left our lodges standing, and ran away into the night. The troops followed us. I rode out and told the troops that we did not want to fight; we only wanted to go north, and if they left us alone we would kill no one. The only reply we got was a volley. After that we had to fight our way, but we killed none that did not fire at us first. My brother, Dull Knife, took one half of the band and surrendered near Fort Robinson.They gave up their guns, and the whites killed them all.
Omacumgache says his many of his kind have died and not many are left. Seattle said something very similar; something like his tribe was weak because many of his people have gone into the spiritual form. One difference is that Seattle is going to comply with the whites so what is left of his tribe is not murdered like Ohcumgache and the Northern Cheyennes.


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mre

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Anonymous wrote:

Document Analysis

  1. How does Seattle summarize relations between the native peoples and white people? Is his overall tone hopeful? Why or why not?
  2. The excerpt concludes with the assertion that the white man will never be alone. What does Seattle mean by that observation?
  4. Research one other primary source quotation from a Native American concerning American westward expansion or its impact.  Compare the two and explain if there are any similarities or differences.  Explain each in context.  Use the following website to aid you in answering this question: http://www.engineofsouls.com/bury.html


1. Seattle sadly summarized relations between the native peoples and white people. His overall tone is not hopeful. He tries to look on the bright side, and cite the fact that the white men have left his people a small amount of land for Indian Reservations. His overall tone, however, is not hopeful because in this passage he states, "Not a single star of hope hovers above his horizon. Sad-voiced winds moan in the distance."

2. By this observation, he means that since the white men took their land, they will never be by themselves on it. The spirts and souls of the Native American peoples will continue to stay with them, on their land.

3. Shunkaha Napin (Wolf Necklace) - I never want to leave this country; all my relatives are lying here in the ground. And when I fall to pieces I am going to fall to pieces here.


With this quote, there are many comparable points. In this quote it say that Wolf Necklace won't ever leave this country, and in the other quote, Seattle is saying how when he dies, he will still come back to stay in this land. This quote is somewhat different though, because he seems to try hard to keep the white men out of his land, rather than try and agree with them, and be thankful for the small amount he probably received.


someone didn't sign this post.



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Erin

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  1. How does Seattle summarize relations between the native peoples and white people? Is his overall tone hopeful? Why or why not?
- He summarizes the relations between the two cultures in a despondent tone. Seattle speaks about how evident it is that the white man is becoming the ultimate power in the United States, and though he wishes his people could stay put that he is grateful for the reservations. He didnt seem to have much hope left for his people. It seemed as though he was trying to summarize what had happened with the white man over the years and how the Native American population was dwindling and he gave very little hope of recovery.
  1. The excerpt concludes with the assertion that the white man will never be alone. What does Seattle mean by that observation?
- Seattle meant that even if the Native Americans were physically no longer living, that they would remain part of the country as spirits. He concludes that the white men will never be alone as long as the spirits remain.  

    3.       Research one other primary source quotation from a Native American concerning American westward expansion or its impact.  Compare the two and explain if there are any similarities or differences.  Explain each in context.  Use the following website to aid you in answering this question: http://www.engineofsouls.com/bury.html

Tashunka Witko (Crazy Horse) - One does not sell the earth upon which the people walk.

- According to Tashunka Witko, no one is entirely entitled to any part of the earth. Seattle reiterates this in much of his speech when he talks about his peoples love for their land. To both men, the Americans werent entitled to the land any more than they were and they certainly werent morally just when they took it. Seattle however was more grateful to at least have somewhere to go once his land was taken.  


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Anna :)

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1. Seattle states that when the white man says hello, he doesn't mean it. The white man does not value having a friendship with Seattle's people. He states that the white man's god is different from the red man's god because if the white man's god was the red man's god too, he would protect everyone, which he doesn't. He says how his people have been pushed further and further off of their land by the white man and how he promises protection of the red man but Seattle doesn't believe it.

2. Seattle means that the memory of his tribes and tribes to come will live on in the white man's land, even if they are wiped out. The white man will hear them in the waves and feel them in the wind.

3. Black Elk - I did not know then how much was ended. When I look back now from this high hill of my old age, I can still see the butchered women and children lying heaped and scattered all along the crooked gulch as plain as when I saw them with eyes still young. And I can see that something else died there in the bloody mud, and was buried in the blizzard. A people's dream died there. It was a beautiful dream.the nation's hoop is broken and scattered. There is no center any longer, and the sacred tree is dead.

I feel that the two views on white settlement in Indian territory are similar. Both look at the woes white man have caused and the suffering the Indians have had to go through. But Seattles view is a bit more uplifting when he says that the Native spirit will forever live on in the white mans live. Black Elk on the other hand says that the dream and spirit of the Native Americans is crushed and is there no longer.


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mitch G

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      1.Chief Seattle sumerizes the relations between the white men and the natives as very different. He says that the white men do not acually value a relationship with the natives for they have nothing to offer him. He speak He describes in detail the differences of cultures between them. He describes this all in a very gloom solum tone. He speaks of how the white god's children are the chosen people and of how the Indain race is soon going to perish under the rising power of the white people.

       2.Seattle means although him and his people may parish they will live on as "verdant valleys, murmuring rivers, magnificent mountains, sequestered vales and verdant lined lakes and bays." The white man will never be alone because the Idains will always be watchinig over them. 

       3. Delshay of the Tonto Apaches --- Though this excerpt Seattle although do not believe it was right for the white man to take his land without permission, is glad that the white man was atleast generous enough to give him back some of his land to live on. Both leaders Delshay and Seattle believe that the spirts put them both on the earth as equals and the white man has no right to be taking the land for his own greed. They both wish to find a way for both whites and natives to live on the earth together without conflict.

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mre

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grades updated

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Calisa

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1. How does Seattle summarize relations between the native peoples and white people? Is his overall tone hopeful? Why or why not?
Chief Seattle summarizes relations between the Red and White men as being extremely different from one another. He says because of these differences, they can never be brothers. He knows that their {White men} way of thinking and doing everyday tasks is so different and that they will never accept the Red men.


2.The excerpt concludes with the assertion that the white man will never be alone. What does Seattle mean by that observation?
Seattle means that when the Red men die they don't leave them completely, they just go to an alternate world.


3. Research one other primary source quotation from a Native American concerning American westward expansion or its impact.  Compare the two and explain if there are any similarities or differences.  Explain each in context.  Use the following website to aid you in answering this question: http://www.engineofsouls.com/bury.html

Shunkaha Napin (Wolf Necklace) - I never want to leave this country; all my relatives are lying here in the ground. And when I fall to pieces I am going to fall to pieces here.
Shunkaha Napin is saying that when he/she dies he/she wants to be buried with his/her ancestors and family. Shunkaha will be fine as long as he/she can be buried with his/her family. Shunkaha wants to stay with her family and Seattle believes that his family's spirit will always be with him. I'm sure Seattle believes that if he leaves the country, his family's spirit will follow, but Shunkaha isn't willing to take the risk.

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engine of souls | forum -> AP United States History -> Primary Source #12: Chief Seattle's Oration
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