Chief Seattle
Chief Seattle
Chief Seattlewas a Dkhw'Duw'Abshchief. A prominent figure among his people, he pursued a path of accommodation to white settlers, forming a personal relationship with "Doc" Maynard. The city of Seattle, in the U.S. state of Washington, was named after him. A widely publicized speech arguing in favor of ecological responsibility and respect of Native Americans' land rights had been attributed to him. However, what he actually said has been lost through translation and rewriting...
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native-american air water
We do not own the freshness of the air or the sparkle of the water. How can you buy them from us?
men air white-man
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.
native-american men air
All things share the same breath - the beast, the tree, the man... the air shares its spirit with all the life it supports.
belong earth
Earth does not belong to us; we belong to earth.
ashore community door encounters opened records ship
Every door opened others. The records show some interesting encounters with a very complicated community on the ship with a complicated community ashore
animals beasts die great happens loneliness man soon whatever
What is man without the beasts? If all the beasts were gone, man would die from a great loneliness of spirit. For whatever happens to the beasts, soon happens to man. All things are connected.
considered cost home men mothers revenge sons stay war
Revenge by young men is considered gain, even at the cost of their own lives, but old men who stay at home in times of war, and mothers who have sons to lose, know better.
people resemble
My people are few. They resemble the scattering trees of a storm-swept plain.
die great man
What is man without the beasts? For if all the beast were gone, man would die of a great loneliness of the spirit.
buy freshness
If we do not own the freshness of the air and the sparkle of the water, how can you buy them?
alone among dead deal earth invisible kindly last man men red shall shores white
When the last red man shall have perished from the earth and his memory among the white men shall have become a myth, 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.
angry black cruel faces grow hearts imaginary men thus unable women
Youth is impulsive. When our young men grow angry at some real or imaginary wrong, and disfigure their faces with black paint, it denotes that their hearts are black, and that they are often cruel and relentless, and our old men and old women are unable to restrain them. Thus it has ever been.
approach cannot dwell man mist morning night red white
Day and night cannot dwell together. The Red Man has ever fled the approach of the White Man, as the morning mist flees before the morning sun.
cannot god love people protect rapidly tide
Our people are ebbing away like a rapidly receding tide that will never return. The white man's God cannot love our people, or He would protect them.