Student Lead Discussion

In the speech, the chief of Seattle argues that the land which has been his home for many centuries is now under threat of invasion by the white man. They desire to take it away from the community. According to him the white people want to buy the land from his people although he does not fathom how he can be told to sell his home,” a place he and his family grew up”. He argues that the affection for the land has grown by leaps and bounds; he is well conversant with the land, sky as well as the waters running through the land. He relies on the land for food as well as the areas he will fishing. On the occasion he is forced to relocate, it will be tantamount to making him leave his history behind as well as that of his ancestors, consequently obliterating any evidence of them having lived there. All the memories the chief, as well as his people have, are as a result of them living on that land and is special to him and his people who cherish everything on that land. The white man invading the land will never become of anything as they will never cherish the land as the chief and his people cherish it since they do not know the history that is on that land.

The chief argues “we would have everything to lose and nothing to gain," whereby he tries to put it across that should they sell the land, they will be left with absolutely nothing. They are going to be left with nowhere to go and more critically, will be gaining nothing from the sale of the land, yet the most guaranteed aspect is of them losing everything.

In another paragraph, he says, “your God is not our God! Your God loves your people and hates mine”. In this point, he tries to argue that the white people’s God is selfish and cares only for the white people and no one else especially his people. The perception he has is that the God is punishing his people because they are less and thus the white people should be allowed to dominate over everything by taking control over everything. The fact that they have the same God could, in fact, imply that one day they may at one point realize that they were to become friends and not enemies. According to him, the realization may take some time to take root.

He additionally says, “No; we are two distinct with separate origins and separate destinies. There’s little in common between us.” He further tries to clarify that the reason as to why they do not get along is because they are very different. The fact that they have varied views in relation to their perception of life and that the white is taking way his land and home is not the right thing to do.

The chief believes that some time from now the white man will reflect and realize that he as well as his family was active fighters and they defended what they believed in and managed to accomplish their desire. Everyone is going to be able to coexist in peace with one another by finding means to make everything function well around them.

“When our young men grow angry at some real or imaginary wrong, and disfigure their faces with black paint” is in relation to the Indian in relation to the youth preparing for war.

The discussion offers an opportunity to explore more in relation to the Indian culture, as well as the American history.

References

Bierwert, Crisca. "Remembering Chief Seattle: Reversing Cultural Studies of a Vanishing Native American." American Indian Quarterly 22.3 (1998): 280-304. Academic Search Premier. Web. 18 Mar. 2015.           

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