Story 1 - Chief Seattle's Speech (Treasure Trove)
Chief Seattle's Speech
Treasure Trove (Short Stories)
Extract III.
George Washington is referred to as “our father in Washington”. He has become “Our father and your father”, since King George has moved his boundaries further north
The ‘good father’ promised to protect the natives only if they do as he desires. “Bristling wall of strength” refers to the soldiers that would be sent to protect the natives by the President.
The Haidas are the indigenous people of North America. The Tsimshians are North American Indians of the North-west coast of America. The Haidas and Tsimshians will cease to frighten the natives when the President sends his soldiers and his ships to protect the natives.
The God of the Whites protects only the White people and ignores the Red Indians. God is partial to the white people and doesn’t help the natives at all.
Chief Seattle says the given phrase to show the revengeful actions performed by young men because they think it is helpful. They even sacrifice their lives for this purpose.
It reflects that Seattle is a wise old man who prefers peaceful actions to violence for achieving his objective.
Extract IV.
The god of the natives, the Great Spirit seems to have forsaken them because he no longer helps them when they need help the most. The great spirit is no longer a father figure to them; they seem to be orphans who can look nowhere for help.
They are compared to a receding tide because once they were large in number but now they are nothing more than a mournful memory. They are compared to orphans because their God seems to have abandoned them as he doesn't help them in their fight.
The chief says that if there was a common father for both races he must be partial because he has forsaken his red children and he protects only the pale-faced children. He also says that the white people are made stronger everyday by Him but He does nothing for the well-being of the natives.
Chief Seattle compares the white people to a hunter and the native people to a deer. He also mentions the offer from the president about a separate land for the native Indians. In this way the chief show that his people were oppressed.
The chief says this line to show the difference in the situation of the native people and the right people. The native people originally belonged to America but the White people arrived there from Europe. The native people are few in number and may die out soon, but the white people are going to prosper. By these examples, we can say that the native people and the white people have separate origins and separate destinies.
Extract V.
The red man's religion is the traditions of his ancestors and belief in the great spirit that teaches them to love this beautiful world.
Chief Seattle says that the ancestors of the white people cease to love them after their death, but the native Americans never forget the world that gave them their life and identity. They keep on loving its valleys, its rivers, its mountains etc., even after their death. So we conclude that the natives are more dependent on their ancestors than their white counterparts.
Chief Seattle says that the religion of the white people was written by the iron finger of their God. The God of this religion loves only the white people and not the native people.
The god of the white man gave rules written on a stone tablet to the white man but the red man did not get any rules from his God.
The white man does not respect land but for the native people every part of the Earth is holy.
The White Man does not worship anything except their God but the red man worships nature and his ancestors.
a. Stone tablets on which the God of Christians wrote rules for them
b. Strong finger of your God.
Extract VI.
This is because they never connect with their land and their people spiritually. Their relationship with their land and their people is not holy; it is materialistic. As soon as they die the link to their earthly life breaks and they are incapable of an afterlife.
The dead of the Red Man continue to love their land and their people. They never forget the world that gave them their life and identity. Moreover the spirits of the dead keep visiting to guide, console and comfort the living.
The great white chief at Washington has sent Seattle and his people the proposal to buy their land and offer them a separate land to live in.
The proposal will take away the land from the red man. To them the land is very sacred as it is the burial ground of their ancestors. The White man will gain more land and they will prosper due to the proposal.
The dead red men help the living and guide them in their times of trouble. According to Seattle the negative people do not leave Earth after their death but remain in this world because they love nature and their people.
Extract VII.
Chief Seattle feels that there is not a star of hope for their survival. . The situation is similar to a wounded that is being hunted down. Moreover he feels that in a few more years their race will disappear. This is how he reflects his own happiness about the fate of his people.
Every person, tribe or culture that is risen to great Glory would definitely meet its fall one day and that would surely be the day of justice. Seattle believes that time will come when the white people would also be moving towards their own doom.
The given line refers to the Biblical God and His ten commandments that have always supported and guided The White man.
Chief Seattle believes that the white people will also have their end, one day. It would be then that the White man and the native people would share a common destiny. They would be brothers only then.
The common destiny of man is that his end is inevitable. it is through the White man and that Seattle foresees the unity of all human beings. He says "We may be brothers after all. We will see."
Extract VIII.
According to Seattle there is "no place dedicated to solitude" because the dead of the native people still stay on the earth because they love nature. This makes them ever present everywhere on the earth. Thus the White man will never be alone.
the shadow we spirits visit the places at night when the streets of cities of the White People are silent and are deserted.
The memory of the tribe would become a myth among the White men when the native people would have perished from their land.
Even after their death, the native Americans don't forget the world that gave them their life and identity. They keep on loving its valleys, its reverse, its mountains etc. The dead feel one with nature and its surroundings.
Chief Seattle believes that "there is no death, only a change of worlds." It was his belief that their dead continued to be a part of their world and remained in this world to look after their people and nature.
The speech is a mouthpiece of animistic philosophy which shows that plants, animals and inanimate objects have life. He says that the ground where they live is rich with the blood of his ancestors. He believes that he has to keep in mind the needs of the future generation, when he uses the natural resources.