JACKSON Chief Seattle Draft 1, Critiqued (Wright)

7/30/2019 JACKSON Chief Seattle Draft 1, Critiqued (Wright)

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Katie Jackson 1

Early in American History, the US government relocated many Indians into

reservations. Chief Seattle was a leader of one of these tribes. (maybe combine these

first two sentences so the introduction flows better)When his lands were taken, he gave a

magnificent speech to Governor Stevens. That speech is filled with bereft dignity and

conveys his sorrow as well as a warning through diction, imagery of water and

contrasting views of god and the afterlife.

Throughout the speech, time is mentioned in several forms. The word time

itself is used only once, but many other similar words: centuries, changeless,

eternal, today, tomorrow, change, memory, days, and night, are used in

almost every paragraph. This is used as a reminder that these Indians, which the white

men want to relocate, have been in this area for centuries, that they chose this land and

know it well. Diction furthers this idea with repeated uses of ancestors and destiny.

Their ancestors have lived on this land and loved it for centuries; therefore it seemed to

be their destiny to remain there, where the souls of their ancestors would return.

In a single, notable paragraph, Seattle discusses ancestors and religion. (Im not

sure what the need is for the clarification that Seattle uses a single, notable paragraph)

He calls into question the prevalent representation of a single god who loves everyone by

calling into contrast this gods treatment of the red man (in the text, the red men are

referred to as Red Men) as compared to that of the white man. The protection that is

promised by the government is obviously impossible, for your God is not our God!

Your God loves your people and hates mine. He folds his strong protecting arms

lovingly about the paleface but he has forsaken his red children if they really are his.


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All of the morals of the European men are based around Gods love, but Chief Seattle

cannot believe that that love extends to the red man,(Red Men) whose depleting line

has known nothing but sorrow since the arrival of those believing in the European God.

Chief Seattle dedicates very little time to this paradox, preferring to focus on that

which he knows, the sky, sea, stars, and love of ancestors. He repeatedly uses imagery of

the sea and water to indicate change and the end of his people. The first incident of this

speaks of the past, there was a time when our people covered the land as the waves of a

wind-ruffled sea cover its shell-paved floor. ,(the punctuation here is weird) referring to

the time when his tribe thrived over all of the land. The next is for the present, our

people are ebbing away like a rapidly receding tide that will never return. Finally, he

uses water to predict the future destruction of his tribe, Tribe follows tribe, and nation

follows nation like the waves of a sea. The sea is the inevitable, water represents life

until that life ebbs away and starts anew, as it is in Chief Seattles tribe. His hope comes

from his belief that his ancestors spirits remain in the stars and never forget the

beautiful world that gave them being and often return to visit, guide, console and

comfort the lonely hearted living.

So comes his thinly veiled warning, his one bargaining chip so to speak.(the

first sentence of this paragraph is awkward) Even when his people are gone, they will

remain. And when the Last Red Man shall have perished, these shores will swarm with

the invisible dead of my tribe, The white man will never be alone. Let him be just and

deal kindly with my people, for the dead are not powerless. So comes the timeless

(awkward)warning that the dead can come back to haunt the living. It implies that,

though the red men (Red Men) are powerless to stop the new US Government (you


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should probably type out united states), one day they will be strong when all

generations have been united in the afterlife. The government should therefore take care

in what it does to its helpless charges, for it shall be repaid in the end.

This dignity in defeat makes up the majesty (not sure majesty is the appropriate

word to use here. You should use effectiveness or "power) of Chief Seattles parting

words. He acknowledges that the government can and will take the land from his

beloved tribe. Yet he keeps face and hope by not fighting a losing battle rather than

accepting the offer that indeed appears just, even generous. (to me, this ending is a little

bit awkward)

Documents

JACKSON Chief Seattle Draft 1, Critiqued (Wright)