CHIEF SEATTLE (1786-1866)

CHIEF SEATTLE (1786-1866)

The first time I read this I thought to my self how sad that these great people are just giving up and saying goodbye agreeing to live on reservations because they had no other choice. They had lost so many in the wars that there were few left and they didn’t need much land. They were tired of their sons being blackened with hate and vengeance. Tired of fighting, wanting to live in peace. Believing that this was a generous offer instead of their people being destroyed completely. Then I read it again and realized that Chief Seattle wasn’t giving up or say goodbye to anything. He was more or less saying goodbye to their time on earth he had just come to accept his destiny and the destiny of everyman that they are going to die. “My people are an ebb tide, we will never return”. He believed that it was their fate, that his people would prepare for and welcome death. He had great faith that his spirit would be with his ancestors and once again flourish on the land that they loved, their “mother” Since there was no way that two groups who were so different could live together “day and night cannot live together” that maybe they could be brothers in the spirit world. That is was no longer the time for his people to be on this land.
I got a chill at the end when he said, “the white man will never be alone. So let him be just and deal kindly with my people. The dead have power too.” It was such a clear warning. “Can any decent white American read this without great shame?” I can’t. There were so many things that they could have learned had they came to this land and listened.