"This Sacred Soil" is a speech that chief Seattle of the Duwamish and Suquamish fishing tribes made to the Governor of Washington Territory in 1854. Reading this kind of shook me, actually. It just makes me sad. It makes me sad that he was so kind, so cordial, in addressing the Governor. That he seems to be losing hope in his faith and in his people/ But what makes me the most sad of all is the fact that I will never know or fully understand Seattle and his people's ways of life, their view on everything around them.
It is so beautiful to read about how "Every hillside, every valley, every plain and grove, has been hallowed by some sad or happy event in days long vanished" (p230), how "The very dust upon which you know stand responds more lovingly to [his people's] footsteps than to [the settlers'], because it is rich with the blood of our ancestors and our bare feet are conscious of the sympathetic touch" (p230). I love to think of the earth and everything in it as a living thing, with feelings and a conscious mind, connected to every other living thing.
Seattle's view of the dead also mystifies me, in a wondrous way. He says there is no death, only a change of worlds. That everyone has their time. Upon first reading this speech, it seems that Seattle is grieving the decay of his people, but he goes on to say he does not mourn the fate of his people. He sees things in a much different way than people today do. He has a different way of looking at life.
This speech just makes me wish I could be a fly on the wall. Not just in this situation, more than a hundred years ago, but everywhere in the world. I wish I could understand every culture, read every book there was to read about different people, discover new ways of looking at this wonderful life. But at the same time, I find something mysterious and exciting about the fact that each culture is its own, and that's what's special about it. The fact that other cultures don't fully understand it, don't know everything about it, makes it that much more unique. This speech from Chief Seattle really puts life in perspective.
Wow Alaina, it seems that you have really absorbed his words into your soul. This corresponds to the discussion we had in Ap World History about how Columbus is celebrated for only his goodness. In this case only, the white people celebrated only on their gain of land and not the sufferrings the Natives have to go through.
ReplyDeleteExactly. It seems a little ridiculous to me. I feel like life would have been so different, maybe even so much better, if things had not been the way they were. I know we can't completely put all the blame on the Europeans, because everyone has their reasons and society today is different than society back then, but it's still hard to stomach. I feel like the settlers who came were cold-hearted, evil people. It seems a harsh judgement, but I wish I could know what it would have been like if they hadn't slaughtered almost all the Native Americans. I don't know.
ReplyDeleteWow. I loved this blog. You really understood and comprehended these words. How do you think America would have been different if the settlers didn't take everything over? Do you think Chief Seattles words live on?
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