What He Said

When I was a teenager in the 1970s, I bought a poster at the local Magic Mart.  It featured a picture of a Native American named Sealth and included a few words of a speech he supposedly gave more than 100 years before.

It was one of the most powerful things I have ever read.

——————————————

Sealth was born sometime between 1780, and 1786 to Sholeetsa, born of the Dkhw’Duw’Absh (anglicized to the Duwamish tribe)  and Shweabe, who was chief of the Dkhw’Suqw’Absh (the Suquamish tribe) on the Black River near what is now Kent, in the state of Washington.  His baptismal name was Noah Sealth (pronounced SEE-elth, with a guttural stop at the end). 

As he grew, he would earn a reputation as a great warrior among his people, but that’s not all.  He was known among them as a great thinker and orator.  It was said his speaking voice, when he wanted it to, could be understood ¾ mile away. 

For all these reasons, Sealth would become chief of both his mother’s birth tribe and his own birth tribe.  As chief he quickly came to the realization that, with their numbers decimated by diseases brought in by whites, they were not likely to fare well in a war to protect their lands.  He chose to seek peace with the intruding whites.

He still had to do what he could to protect some life, some standard of living, for his people.

On his path through life, Sealth met and made friends with David Swinson “Doc” Maynard.  Doc was an American pioneer, doctor, and businessman. He was also an advocate for the rights of Native Americans.

The two became good friends and aided each other in their endeavors when they could.  When Doc was trying to form a city, including the white settlement Duwamps, he sought Sealth’s help.  When that help worked out and the city came into existence, Doc proposed that it be named after his friend.  It was.

In 1854, the governor of the territory of Washington (Issac Stevens) visited the young city and the city’s namesake himself gave a speech lamenting that the day of the Indian had passed and the future belonged to the white man.  Dr. Henry J. Smith, a surgeon with a penchant for florid Victorian poetry under his nom-de-plume, Paul Garland, was listening and taking notes.

Although the speech has been rewritten several times and the accuracy of the original, written down by Dr. Smith, has been questioned, the fact is it was and is a very good speech, with plenty of truth and wisdom included.  Reading it now, my thoughts are tinged with sadness at the prescience of it.  I hope you enjoy it, and I hope it will give you pause to think.

Part of that speech was on the poster which hung on my wall as a youth and the entire speech is included below:

——————————————

“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 freshness of the air and the sparkle of the water, how can you buy them?

“Every part of the Earth is sacred to my people. Every shining pine needle, every sandy shore, every mist in the dark woods, every clear and humming insect is holy in the memory and experience of my people. The sap which courses through the trees carries 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 the 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 White 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. So, we will consider your offer to buy land. But it will not be easy. For this land is sacred to us.

“This shining water that moves in streams and rivers is not just water but the blood of our ancestors. If we sell you land, you must remember that it is sacred blood of our ancestors. If we sell you 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 in the life of my people. The water’s murmur is the voice of my father’s father.

“The rivers of our brothers; they quench our thirst. The rivers carry our canoes and feed our children. 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. 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 graves behind, and he does not care. He kidnaps the Earth from his children, and he does not care.

“BIRTHRIGHT

“His father’s grave, and his children’s birthright are forgotten. He treats his mother, the Earth, and his brother, the same, 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 from your ways. The sight of your cities pains the eyes of the red man. But perhaps it is because the red man is a savage and does not understand.

“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 an insect’s wings. But perhaps it is because I am a savage and do not understand. The clatter only seems to insult the ears. And what is there to life if a man cannot hear the lonely cry of a whippoorwill or the arguments of the frogs around a 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 the pond, and the smell of the wind itself, cleansed by a midday rain, or scented with the Piñon pine.

“PRECIOUS

“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 condition – the white man must treat the beasts of this land as his brothers.

“I am a savage and do not understand any other way. I have seen a thousand rotting buffaloes on the prairie, left by the white man who shot them from a passing train. I am a savage and do not understand how the smoking iron horse can be made more important than the buffalo that we kill only to stay alive.

“What is man without the beasts? If all the beasts were gone, man would die from a great loneliness of the spirit. For whatever happens to the beasts, soon happens to man. All things are connected.

“RESPECT

“You must teach your children that the ground beneath their feet is the ashes of our grandfathers. So that they will respect the land, tell your children that the Earth is rich with the lives of our kin. Teach your children what we have taught our children: that the Earth is our mother. Whatever befalls the Earth befalls the sons of the Earth. If men spit upon the ground, they spit upon themselves.

“This we know – the Earth does not belong to man – man belongs to the Earth. This we know. All things are connected like the blood which unites one family. All things are connected.

“Whatever befalls the Earth – befalls the sons of the Earth. Man did not weave the web of life – he is merely a strand in it. Whatever he does to the web, he does to himself.

“Even the white man, whose God walks and talks with him as friend to friend, cannot be exempt from the common destiny. We may be brothers after all. We shall see. One thing we know, which the white man may one day discover – Our God is the same God. You may think now that you own Him as you wish to own our land, but you cannot. He is the God of man, and His compassion is equal for red man and the white. The Earth is precious to Him, and to harm the Earth is to heap contempt on its creator. The whites too shall pass, perhaps sooner than all other tribes.

“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. That destiny is a mystery to us, for we do not understand when the buffalo are slaughtered, the wild horses tamed, the secret corners of the forest heavy with scent of many men, and the view of the ripe hills blotted by talking wires. Where is the thicket? Gone. Where is the Eagle? Gone. The end of living and the beginning of survival.”

——————————————

Since whites had difficulty pronouncing Sealth’s name, they “Americanized” it and named the city, like the man, Seattle.

I think Chief Seattle would be pleased that the speech he gave 168 years ago has survived to be passed down to us today.  The fact that the meaning is crystal clear, even to Americans living in 2022, would make him happy.  But the reality that the desire he expressed so long ago has been forgotten or ignored through the years would make him sad…oh so sad.

It makes me sad too.

——————————————

PLEASE SUBSCRIBE AT THE UPPER RIGHT. IT’S FREE!

You will ONLY receive notifications when I post new entries to my blog.

Go to the top of the right hand column where it says, “SUBSCRIBE TO BLOG VIA EMAIL”.  Fill in your email and hit the “Subscribe” button.  You will receive a verification email.  Please confirm that you want to subscribe by clicking, “Confirm Follow” and you will be set!  Thanks!

It doesn’t seem to work from a cell phone, only a computer.  I don’t know why.  Sorry.  If there’s a problem, send me your email address and I’ll sign you up.

——————————————