Chief Seattle’s Speech (1854): Summary, review, analysis

Chief Seattle’s Speech – Treasure Trove of short Stories. Also find ICSE project/assignment questions on Chief Seattle’s Speech.

Introduction

Globally, forest cover continues to decline at an alarming rate as deforestation continues playing havoc with the climate. American novelist and poet, Henry Cuyler Bunner, is able to foresee the impending destruction and makes an ardent appeal to readers to take action to reverse the damage by planting more trees. In ‘Chief Seattle’s Speech’, the Native American Chief foresees a similar destruction of its tribes and environment, and urges Americans to respect the environment and the traditions of the Native Americans.

Topic: Importance of protecting environment and local cultures

Topic: World environment is going through a crisis and traditional values are getting eroded. Bring out the importance of protecting our environment and safeguarding local cultures through the message given in ‘Chief Seattle’s Speech’.

In ‘Chief Seattle’s Speech’, the Native American Chief foresees destruction as a result of being incongruous with nature. The natives have always believed in living in harmony with nature. America is one of the most industrialized nations in the world today, but it failed to protect the traditions of the Native Americans. The country today faces frequent hurricanes and cyclones, and also faces criticism from other countries for not doing much for the environment, despite being the largest producer of industrial wastes in the world. Just as the heart is the most important organ of the human body, trees also play a vital role in our universe and are equally important for our survival.

In ‘Chief Seattle’s Speech’, the Native American Chief, after observing a similar callous attitude of humans, warns of wide-scale destruction by not being in harmony with nature. Over the years, the environment the traditions of the Native Americans have been trampled in the name of progress. Today, America is the largest producer of industrial wastes in the world and the country itself faces frequent cyclones and hurricanes.
Not only are the views put forth in the poem (as well as in the speech) genuine and true, it’s imperative for the global community to take immediate action.

Much has already been lost in the name of development, by taking the environment for granted. Mankind have experienced some of the worst natural disasters in recent times and will continue to face large scale destruction due to global warming and climate change. Floods, tsunamis, drought, harmful pollution continues to ravage our planet and it will only get worse unless corrective measures are taken to save our environment.

Tree plantation drives, restrictions on deforestation, ban on certain kinds of wood are the need of the hour. It’s high time we all act as responsible people and make the world a better place to live in.

Topic: Hostilities and differences in belief systems

TOPIC: How does Chief Seattle, through his speech, bring out the hostilities between the White settlers and the Native Americans and highlight the differences in their belief systems?

The Chief Seattle can clearly see that his race is about to get extinct as the powerful whites push them backwards and have taken up most of their land. The chief complains that the white people never showed respect to the tribal people, they were oppressing the native people and were forcing their way into the native land because of which the natives were reduced to a small race and were almost on the verge of extinction.

He sincerely wishes there was a way to buy back their own land, but he knows that is not possible now. He is aware that the Whites are supremely powerful with strong armies and navies and that the Red Indians have no option but to bow down; anything that comes in their path is ruthlessly defeated. The young natives are angry and willing to fight the white men, but the elderly natives are aware about the might of the white men, and fear for loss of lives of the young men. Looking at the consequences of their past hostilities, the Chief feels they have everything to lose and nothing to gain.

The Chief Seattle sarcastically says that he is thankful to the Whites for giving them enough land to live comfortably, but deep down he understands that the natives are now in a slave- master relationship with the Whites.

As far as the differences in their belief systems, the Chief Seattle says the natives and Whites are two distinct races with separate origins and separate destinies, and there is little in common between them. Whites do not respect nature, the place where they live, and their ancestors, but the natives have deep respect for them. For the natives, the place where their ancestors are buried and even their ashes are sacred, but the whites wander far from the graves of their ancestors, and that too without any regret. The whites who die wander far off beyond the stars, are soon forgotten, and never return, but the natives who die never forget the beautiful world that gave them being.

Industrialization has made life easier for mankind, but it has been at the expense of our environment. In ‘Chief Seattle’s Speech’, the Native American Chief could see the impending destruction of his people as a result of being incongruous with nature and urges the Whites to respect the environment and the traditions of the Native Americans.

Academic Questions

Academic questions, assignments on this topic.

Q. Compose your thoughts on the significance of nature conservation as expressed by Chief Seattle. Illustrate your thoughts with pictures that depict global warming, animal extinction and ecological imbalance. Word limit: 500 words

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