Question

critical appreciation of chief Seattle speech

Answer 1

Chief Seattle's speech reflects his concern for the exploitation of nature at the hand of the whites who think they can possess land and hence propose him to sell the land that belonged to them. The Chief is unable to make peace with the idea that anyone can buy land. As per him, the land belongs to everyone, like the air, the sunshine, and the flowing rivers. Can anyone buy those as well! He expects if the whites take their land, his people will be cared for and they would not be denied reservations. He is pained at the deterioration of nature and its resources and expects that the whites would take due care of them. He recalls his ancestors, his people who were proud wanderers of the valleys, hills, and shores and feels that to mourn over them is useless. His tribe may not last longer than the white's but he feels death is just a state, a change of the worlds. His tribe would still throng the places once they loved so much.

Answer 2

Answer:

Explanation:

Chief Seattle's speech was given circa 1864 and powerfully captures the emotions of the native people of North America.

Since the Europeans arrived and the founding of USA, the native Americans were constantly driven out of their lands, persecuted, killed and at many times enslaved.

When Europeans came to the land of Chief Seattle, they offered him a truce which many native Americans were not so happy about.

However Chief Seattle had seen how the various tribes around him such as Apache had been eliminated due to superior technology and believed that his own tribe will face the same fate.

In the speech, he argued, or better made a plea to his tribesman to give up fighting and no matter how hard it might be, accept that the White man has won. He argued that only by accepting this, will they be able to move on and life a more peaceful life in their appointed land.

Some have argued that the contents of the speech are fake and altered over the years, but the overall tone does capture the trauma faced by millions of native Americans at the time.