Chief Seattle

Chief Seattle

We can gain powerful insight into his thoughts just by listening to Chief Seattle’s famous words “The Earth does not belong to us, we belong to the Earth.” Although we call him “Chief” Seattle, there were no hereditary chiefs among the Puget Sound Indians. Strong leaders arose in each village from time to time who distinguished themselves in one way or another. For instance, there were fishing leaders, peacetime leaders, and leaders in times of crisis. Distinguishing himself in a time of crisis, Chief Seattle was a leader. He rose first as a warrior, then became a powerful leader and finally a diplomat and peacemaker.

Seattle was the Lushootseed leader after which the city of Seattle is named. He was believed to be about 80 years old when he died on June 6, 1866. Very little is known about his childhood but he claims to have seen the ships of Captain George Vancouver in 1792 and even claims that the explorers visit was a happy one. Seattle was a powerful leader and a strong warrior for a good part of his life. However, the death of his sons during a raid seemed to change him forever. Not long after their death, Chief Seattle was baptized into the Catholic Church.

Chief Seattle

Following his baptism, Seattle changed his focus and became a leader looking for an amicable solution to fighting and looked for ways to end it through cooperation of his people with the American settlers. Seattle believed there was a way that both groups could coincide without ware and fighting. He spent years as a diplomat looking for a solution to the ever increasing friction between his people and the settling Americans. On March 11, 1854 Seattle gave a speech he is still famous for today. The speech was given in the Lushootseed language, then translated into Chinook and finally into English. One can only imagine how much of the meaning was lost in translation and his true words and meaning are still the focus of much controversy today. The U.S. Government had just offered to buy two million acres of Indian land from his tribe and the following speech he gave was his response to the U.S. Government. http://www.halcyon.com/arborhts/chiefsea.html

Although Seattle went to great efforts to find ways to blend his people with the Americans, eventually sheer greed overcame any progress he had made with the relationship between his people and the settling Americans. The native Tribes’ unhappiness with the treaties that were forged eventually led to war but all the while Seattle remained an ally to the Americans still hoping for an amicable solution. When the war was over and his people were suffering he did what he could to help them and protect them by using the relationships he had built with the American government. But soon an ordinance was passed that forbid Indians from living within city limits so Seattle had to move from his home onto a reservation. He lived there for years until an illness took his life. He died on the reservation.

Chief Seattle (elder)

Although many years have passed since his death we can all look back through history and see the pain and destruction that was caused when two different peoples collided. If only greed could have taken a back seat long enough to allow kindness and compassion to prevail, many lives and the cultures of native people could have been saved.