Therefore, the authenticity of the available texts is not confirmed. The idea is strange to us. Our people are ebbing away like a rapidly receding tide that will never return. Brokeback — as the term implies but that does not make me less human. Every part of this earth is sacred to my people.
There is little in common between us. In 1993 Nancy Zussy, a librarian at Washington State University, analyzed the versions of Chief Seattle's speech or "letter" which were then in circulation. There is little in common between us. If we sell you our land, you must remember to teach your children that the rivers are our brothers, and yours, and you must henceforth give the rivers the kindness that you would give my brother. I am decent person and in a stable relationship with the coolest person I met in a planet where Romeo seeks for another Romeo. They wander far from their graves without any regret. Your religion was written upon tablets of stone by the iron finger of your God so that you could not forget.
But, He has forsaken His Red children, if they really are His. Stevens' assistant George Gibbs noted his presence during the March 11, 1854 meeting. He warned us against the rapid progress of western civilization and pitched for the need to protect nature. However, your proposition seems fair and I think that my people will accept it and will retire to the reservation you offer them. But in your perishing you will shine brightly, fired by the strength of the God who brought you to this land and for some special purpose gave you dominion over this land and over the red man.
My words are like the stars that never set. They love the beautiful aspects of nature and understand the importance of maintaining it. The white men, they all share the same breath. 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. He kidnaps the earth from his children.
Creative Kids Amazing Animals Powerful Plants Native Wisdom Eco-Careers Earth Issues Awesome Activities Great Books Nature Programs We Give Thanks You 'r e Invited About Us Sign Up For Our Email Newsletters. We may be brothers after all. Over the years, the environment the traditions of the Native Americans have been trampled in the name of progress. If all the beasts were gone, man would die of a great loneliness of spirit. 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. Every part of this earth is sacred to my people.
Unless otherwise noted, all images and text are: © 2012 Chief Seattle Arts Last modified: January 02, 2017. How can your father become our father and bring us prosperity and awaken in us dreams of returning greatness? Excerpts from an 1854 Speech by Chief Seattle We know that the white man does not understand our ways. That same year, John M. But perhaps it is because the red man is a savage and does not understand. The rivers of our brothers they quench our thirst.
The rivers are our brothers, they quench our thirst. Then the speaker ascertains his reliability by comparing his words to the stars that never change. The Indian prefers the soft sound of the wind darting over the face of the pond, and the smell of the wind itself, cleansed by a midday rain, or scented with the pinon pine. Where is the thicket? Teach your children what we have taught our children that the Earth is our mother. 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. They may have been lost in the Great Seattle Fire, when Smith's office burned down.
Maynard, and at once commenced in a conversational, plain and straightforward style, an explanation of his mission among them, which is too well understood to require recapitulation. Furtwangler has merged the two texts since the sole copy of the extant newspaper version is damaged. Major Support for HistoryLink. He treats his mother, the earth, and his brother, the sky, as things to be bought, plundered, sold like sheep or bright beads. The version of Chief Seattle's speech edited by Stevens was then made into a poster and 18,000 copies were sent out as a promotion for the movie. Frederick James Grant included Smith's text in his 1891 History of Seattle, Washington and Clarence B.