Chief Seattle's Speech (1853) [Hardcover]

Chief Seattle (Author), Chief Seattle (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 1, 2000 | Series: Little Books of Wisdom

This moving oration, recited in 1854 during treaty negotiations with the governor of Washington Territory, is considered to be one of the greatest statements ever made regarding the relationship between a people and the earth. It is the most widely quoted speech ever given by a Native American.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 24 pages
• Publisher: Applewood Books (September 1, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 155709456X
• ISBN-13: 978-1557094568
• Product Dimensions: 6.8 x 4.3 x 0.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,204,586 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #86 in Books > 4-for-3 Books > Nonfiction > Social Sciences > Special Groups > Native American Studies

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

13 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Sacred Connection Between Man and Nature, October 29, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Chief Seattle's Speech (1853) (Hardcover)

Anyone who has read many Native American poems or stories probably knows that one of the most consistent themes in these literary works is man's connection to nature. This theme runs throughout Chief Seattle's Speech. This speech is both eloquent and haunting. It was originally directed at Anglos regarding the loss of tribal lands to white settlers, but it is a speech that today's enviromentalists would likely see as representative of many of their own views.With a wise and knowing voice that speaks from the heart, Chief Seattle reminds us that it is vital to respect the earth because we are part of it. Even after death, his people continued to have a spiritual bond to the places that were special to them. I really love this idea. I also think that the beautiful and sacred bonds between people, animals, and the enviroment are sacred and eternal. If you enjoy reading meaningful literature that reminds you to keep your priorities in order, read Chief Seattle's Speech. To those who like this speech, I recommend novels and poetry by the following authors: Leslie Marmon Silko, Joseph Bruchac, Joy Harjo, and Simon Ortiz.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Sacred Interconnection Between Man and Nature, October 30, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Chief Seattle's Speech (1853) (Hardcover)

Anyone who has read many Native American poems or stories probably knows that one of the most consistent themes in these literary works is man's connection to nature. This theme runs throughout The Speech of Chief Seattle. This speech is both eloquent and haunting. It was originally directed at Anglos regarding the loss of tribal lands to white settlers, but it is a speech that today's enviromentalists would likely see as representative of many of their own views.With a wise and knowing voice that speaks from the heart, Chief Seattle reminds us that it is vital to respect the earth because we are part of it. Even after death, his people continued to have a spiritual bond to the places that were special to them. I really love this idea. I also think that the beautiful and sacred bonds between people, animals, and the enviroment are sacred and eternal. If you enjoy reading meaningful literature that reminds you to keep your priorities in order, read The Speech of Chief Seattle. To those who like this speech, I recommend novels and poetry by the following authors: Leslie Marmon Silko, Joseph Bruchac, Joy Harjo, and Simon Ortiz.

5.0 out of 5 stars The Most Authentic of the Forgeries, December 2, 2010

By 

fredtownward "The Analytical Mind; Have Brain... (Mocksville, North Carolina, United States) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Chief Seattle's Speech (1853) (Hardcover)

The Speech of Chief Seattle (an Anglicization of Si'ahl) is often described as the most important and influential speech ever given by a native American,...

unfortunately, nobody really knows what he actually said.

This version, the earliest version, admitted to be only a fragment of what Si'ahl said at the time, was written down several years later by Dr. Henry A. Smith, based upon his own notes, of a speech spoken in the Lushootseed language, translated on the fly by someone into Chinook jargon, then translated again by a third person into English....

That would be reason enough for skepticism before we even consider the overly flowery language of the purported speech, but assuming he didn't make the whole thing up, Dr. Smith likely recorded the gist of the speech: in which Si'ahl purportedly thanked the white people for their generosity, demanded that any treaty guarantee access to Native burial grounds, and made a contrast between the God of the white people and that of his own. At the least Dr. Smith appears to lack a motive for outright forgery.

That cannot quite be said of those who have championed the more famous version of the speech, the work of screenwriter now professor Ted Perry who used a modern language version of the speech, written by poet William Arrowsmith in the Sixties, as the model for the script of a film on ecology, inserting various eco-homilies among portions of the (alleged) Chief Seattle speech.

"Perry expected to be given credit for writing this film script, but he made the mistake of including the Chief's name in his text. According to Perry, the producer didn't credit his screen writer because he thought the film might seem more authentic without a 'written by' credit."

And the rest, as they say, is environmentalist wacko propaganda.

Note: one could complain that this book is available online for free. Well, yes, what part of in the public domain do you not understand? However, trying to get away with giving someone a printout as a gift will earn you the nickname of cheapskate. If all you want to do is read it yourself, then by all means stick to the free sites. However, if you are looking for a way to get through to someone else, you are better off buying a copy, and a solitary sawbuck for this sturdy pocket-sized reprint is going to be tough to beat. The chief virtue of it being online is your ability to read it first and make sure that this is the book you want to give before ordering it.

Note: Applewood Books has produced a nice looking inexpensive series of sturdy pocket-sized reprints of important American books, documents, speeches, pamphlets, and poems, the Little Books of Wisdom, uniform with this volume, that are ideal for gifting to doctors, lawyers, teachers, business professionals, and students of same: The Way to Wealth, George Washington's Rules of Civility & Decent Behavior in Company and Conversation, The Constitution of the United States of America, On the Art of Teaching, The Poems of Abraham Lincoln, The Strenuous Life, The Bill of Rights with Writings That Formed Its Foundation, The Path of the Law, The Constitution of the Confederate States of America, The Jefferson Bible: The Life and Morals of Jesus of Nazareth, A Message to Garcia, A Declaration of Sentiments, Robert's Rules of Order, Good Citizenship, On Being Human, A Discourse Upon the Duties of a Physician, The Declaration of Independence with Short Biographies of Its Signers, The Wants of Man, George Washington's Farewell Address, Universal Declaration of Human Rights, Common Sense, The Articles of Confederation, The Emancipation Proclamation, and The Gospel of Wealth.

Some selected volumes are also available in boxed sets: Books of American Wisdom Boxed Set, CEO's Gift Box of Wisdom, Doctor's Gift Box of Wisdom, Lawyer's Gift Box of Wisdom, New Citizen's Gift Box of Wisdom, and Teacher's Gift Box of Wisdom.

And some have been published in Spanish: Un Mensaje a Garcia and Constitucion de Los Estados Unidos.