- In 1864, about a year before his death, Seattle visited E.M.Sammis' photographic studio at the corner of Front and Mill Streets (First and Yesler) to have his portrait made.
- James Wehn's Statue of Chief Seattle, Tilikum Place, downtown Seattle - unveiled in 1912 on Founder's Day (November 13th) by Chief Seattle's great-great-granddaughter Myrtle Loughery
- Bronze bust of Chief Seattle by James Wehn, Pioneer Square, Seattle, 2000
- The official seal of the City of Seattle, established in 1937, bears the likeness of Chief Seattle.
- More pictures here
- A frameable print of Chief Seattle's speech may be obtained by mailing to: Suquamish Museum, PO Box 498 Suquamish, WA 98392
- ChiefSeattle.COM
- Suquamish: Seattle's tribe
- Chief Seattle
- Indiani (in Italian)
- Universal Pantheist Society, P.O. Box 265, Big Pine, CA 93513
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SEE-AT-LA Chief Noah Seattle (or Seeathl) BORN 1786 | ||
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HIS 1854 ORATION
Henry A. Smith's article "Scraps from a diary: Chief Seattle - A gentleman by instinct", as it appeared on Seattle Sunday Star on October 29, 1887 (source: ChiefSeattle.COM)
Old Chief Seattle was the largest Indian I ever saw, and by far the noblest-looking. He stood 6 feet full in his moccasins, was broad-shouldered, deep-chested, and finely proportioned. His eyes were large, intelligent, expressive and friendly when in repose, and faithfully mirrored the varying moods of the great soul that looked through them. He was usually solemn, silent, and dignified, but on great occasions moved among assembled multitudes like a Titan among Lilliputians, and his lightest word was law.
When rising to speak in council or to tender advice, all eyes were turned upon him, and deep-toned, sonorous, and eloquent sentences rolled from his lips like the ceaseless thunders of cataracts flowing from exhaustless fountains, and his magnificent bearing was as noble as that of the most cultivated military chieftain in command of the forces of a continent. Neither his eloquence, his dignity, or his grace were acquired. They were as native to his manhood as leaves and blossoms are to a flowering almond. His influence was marvelous. He might have been an emperor but all his instincts were democratic, and he ruled his loyal subjects with kindness and paternal benignity.
.. Chief Seattle arose with all the dignity of a senator, who carries the responsibilities of a great nation on his shoulders [and] commenced his memorable address in solemn and impressive tones.
.. The above is but a fragment of his speech, and lacks all the charm lent by the grace and earnestness of the sable old orator, and the occasion.
H. A. Smith
FOOTNOTE: the Indians in early times thought that Washington was still alive. They knew the name to be that of a president, and when they heard of the president at Washington they mistook the name of the city for the name of the reigning chief. They thought, too, that King George was still England's monarch, because the Hudson Bay traders called themselves "King George's Men." This innocent deception the company was shrewd enough not to explain away, for the Indians had more respect for them than they would have had, had they known England was ruled by a woman. Some of us have learned better.
His father was a noted headman and war leader. But his mother was a slave, so he was considered of low birth. .. In 1792, Captain Vancouver's ship Discovery visited the natives to trade. This event left a lasting impression on the eight year old future chief. He began to greatly appreciate western technology, especially firearms. .. After 1800, tribes to the north of the Suquamish tribe raided them frequently to capture women and children to increase the size of their families. .. Kitsap, a Suquamish leader (Chief Seattle's uncle), led a raiding party to Vancouver Island to put down the Cowiche peoples, ending further disturbance by the Cowiches. Seattle took part in this battle and fared well. .. In 1805-06, .. Seattle led a group that killed a raiding party of Green River and White River people. One of his methods of dealing with his enemies was very clever. He knew most attacks came at night and that the attackers traveled on the river. So he chopped down a tree so it fell just a few inches above the water. Unsuspecting raiders would collide into it. While they were busy rescuing the canoe and their equipment, Seattle's men would attack from shore. After this successful raid, he assumed the name See-yahtlh, the name of his father's father, at a potlatch ceremony. .. He became chief of the Suquamish and Duwamish tribes shortly after his victory over the Green River tribes. He was widely respected among the Indians for leading successful attacks on Puget Sound tribes. [In 1832] whites were concerned about Christianizing the Indians. At this time several hundred Indians were baptized, and Chief Seattle was one of them. His baptismal name was Noah. [In 1850] he talked Dr. David Maynard, an Indian agent and trader, into establishing a store near his people at Alki Point. Maynard agreed. This is when Maynard renamed the city after Chief Seattle. Chief Seattle had invited Maynard to the town site established by Arthur Denny, which he had named Duwamps, in honor of the Duwamish tribe. Maynard's successful enterprise prompted him to change the name to Seattle. Chief Seattle wasn't happy with this tribute, since his culture forbid use of a person's name while they were still alive. .. On January 10, 1854, territorial governor Isaac I. Stevens (1818-1862) arrived at Seattle to try to get the Suquamish and Duwamish to move to a reservation. Chief Seattle was there. In a long speech, he recommended that the Indians go to the reservation, but he wanted to reserve the right to visit burial places whenever they wanted. .. Chief Seattle was one of those who signed. At the time, Chief Seattle was troubled that white men gave more weight to a document with a signature than in believing his word. .. Stevens appointed Chief Seattle as the representative for both tribes. Unfortunately, the Duwamish didn't recognize this. So Seattle got the reservation for the Suquamish and the Duwamish got nothing. From then on, Chief Seattle tried to get white men to uphold their agreement. .. Chief Seattle acted as judge at tribal councils. He eventually found this to be futile since his people kept declining due to disease, alcohol, and poverty. .. He died on the reservation after a brief illness (a severe fever) on June 7, 1866. His funeral was attended by a large number of Indians and sympathetic white men.
.. As a boy, he was in one of the canoes that met the first Europeans to enter Puget Sound. The sloop-of-war Discovery and the armed tender Chatham, under the command of Captain George Vancouver (1758-1798), spent a week during May 1792, in the waters south of the Strait of Juan de Fuca, making charts for future use, naming landmarks and waterways, and making observations of the local inhabitants and their villages. .. He was si'ab (see-ahb) or of noble birth, a necessity for major leadership in the stratified society of Puget Sound Salish culture. (Women, commoners, or trusted slaves could suggest ideas when a village or gathering debated a course of action, but were not selected as leaders.) .. Family members affirm that one of Seattle's spirit powers was thunder, allowing his voice to be heard from a great distance [in time, ndJB]. .. In 1852, Seattle reputedly persuaded David S. "Doc" Maynard (1808-1873) to move his general store from Olympia, to which Seattle often canoed for supplies, to the village of Duwumps. Maynard named his new store the "Seattle Exchange" and convinced settlers to rename their town after the chief when they filed the first plats on May 23, 1853.
Within a year of his arrival, [Territorial Governor] Stevens summoned tribal leaders to a treaty conference at Point Elliott (now Mukilteo) on January 21-23, 1855. Seattle was the first tribal chief to place his mark on a document which ceded ownership of most of the Puget Sound basin. .. Both sides had difficulty understanding each other's ideas since all conversation had to be translated twice -- from Lushootseed (Puget Sound Salish) to Chinook Jargon, a limited trade language, then from Chinook to English, and the same process in reverse.
.. The treaties of 1854-55 were not ratified by Congress for more than three years, and many of the benefits for tribes were decreased, delayed, or disputed. Many tribal leaders were so dissatisfied with the results, that they took up arms to force a better agreement, or the expulsion of whites from their traditional lands. .. Even though the treaties did not provide all that Seattle expected (there was no separate reservation for his Duwamish relatives, for example), he kept his promise and did not fight.
.. Noah Seattle died of a severe fever and was buried with Catholic and native rites in the reservation cemetery at Suquamish, dressed in European American clothing. .. His son, Jim Seattle was Chief for a time, but he "talked rough to the people." He was replaced, by the ancient method of group opinion, by Chief Jacob (Wahelchu?).
.. Information about his early years is fragmentary. He told settlers he was born on Blake Island in central Puget Sound. His father, Schweabe, was a noble from the main Suquamish village at Agate Pass and his mother, Sholitza, was Duwamish from the lower Green River. His birth occurred during an apocalyptic time in his peoples' history when epidemics inadvertently introduced by western traders decimated the native population, and the introduction of western trade goods and firearms added to the turmoil. Seattle claimed he was present when the British ship H.M.S. Discovery, captained by George Vancouver, anchored off Bainbridge Island on May 20, 1792, and the happy memories of the explorer's visit and his appreciation of the power and abilities of Westerners remained with him all his life.
Despite an attribution of slavery in his lineage, Seattle's noble status was affirmed by his reception of Thunderbird power from an important supernatural wealth-giver during a vision quest held sometime during his youth. He married well, taking wives from the important village of Tola'ltu on the western shore of Elliott Bay. His first wife died after bearing a daughter, but a second bore him sons and daughters, and he owned slaves, always a sign of wealth and status. [But] he freed his own slaves after Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation in 1863.
During the period when his famous uncle, Kitsap, led a coalition of Puget Sound forces against the powerful Cowichans of Vancouver Island, who had been sending raiders south, Seattle succeeded in ambushing and destroying a party of raiders coming down the Green River in canoes from their strongholds in the Cascade foothills. .. By the time he entered the historic record in 1833, when the Hudson's Bay Company founded Fort Nisqually near the head of the Sound, he enjoyed a reputation as an intelligent and formidable leader with a compelling voice. The nickname given him by Company personnel, 'Le Gros' (the big one), indicates he had a physique to match his personality.
.. He was probably baptised by the Oblates of Mary Immaculate at their St. Joseph of Newmarket Mission, founded near the new American settlement of Olympia in 1848, and he appears as Noe Siattle in the Oblate Sacramental Register. His children were also baptized and raised in the faith, and his conversion marked the end of his fighting days and his emergence as a leader seeking cooperation with incoming American settlers. These reached Puget Sound in 1846, and the warm welcome and aid Seattle gave those visiting his homeland earned him the reputation as a friend of the whites.
[Seattle] took up residence at Olympia to develop contacts. His first success came with Charles Fay, a San Francisco merchant, with whom he organized a fishery on Elliott Bay in the summer of 1851. When Fay departed in the fall, Seattle returned to Olympia and convinced David S. Maynard to take his place. In the spring of 1852, Seattle and Maynard organized another fishery at dzidzula'lich, a native village on the east shore of the bay. By the summer, the Americans who took claims near the village named the hybrid settlement Seattle after their patron and protector.
.. He was the first to place his mark on the treaty document ceding title to some 2.5 million acres of land, retaining a reservation for his Suquamish but none for the Duwamish. [But] unhappiness over the treaties and American arrogance caused many Duwamish to repudiate Seattle's leadership and led, ultimately, to the Yakima Indian War of 1855-57. .. He tried to maintain contact with all native parties east and west of the mountains, but he remained a firm ally of the Americans, [even] suffering their slights and humiliations with stoic dignity. .. (One story tells of a 10 year old girl who pushed the old Chief off a board sidewalk -- everyone knew that Indians were supposed to get out of the way of white people.)
.. After native forced were defeated, Seattle struggled to help his people, unsuccessfully seeking clemency for the war leader, Leschi, and petitioning the governor to hurry ratification of the treaty. On the Fort Kitsap (Port Madison) reservation he attempted to curtail the influence of whiskey sellers and prevent the ritual murder of slaves. He had freed his own slaves as required by the treaty. Off the reservation, he participated in meetings to resolve native disputes.
.. He received the sacrament of Confirmation at Tulalip in 1864. .. An 1865 ordinance enacted by the newly incorporated town of Seattle forbade permanent Indian houses within the city limits, forcing Seattle to vacate the place where he had greeted Shaw and Ebey and invited them to settle. He lived at his homes on the Port Madison Reservation [until he died in 1866].
THE OFFICIAL TRUTH
as stated in ChiefSeattle.COM
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, distinguishing themselves by the actions or particular skills, were respected and followed. .. Chief Seattle was one of those. In addition to his leadership skills [he had the] ability to understand what the white settler's intentions were. .. Chief Seattle passed away in 1866. From his grave on the Kitsap Peninsula the modern city of Seattle is visible across Puget Sound.
[His] father, Schweabe, was a Suquamish chief .., but Chief Seattle was considered a member of the Duwamish tribe [since] his mother, Scholitza, was the daughter of a Duwamish chief, and the line of descent among the Duwamish traditionally runs through the mother.
.. Chief Seattle as a young boy saw the first Englishmen who visited the Puget Sound region area, in 1792--Captain George Vancouver and his sailors--when they anchored their ships the Discovery and the Chatham near the southeast corner of Bainbridge Island. .. As a young warrior was known for his courage, daring, and leadership in battle. He gained control of six local tribes and continued the friendly relations with local Europeans that his father began.
.. Chief Seattle was always intrigued by Europeans and their culture, and .. also helped protect the small band of European-American settlers in what is now Seattle from attacks by other Indians. Because of his friendship and help, at the urging of Doc Maynard, the settlers named their city after him.
.. Chief Seattle gave his famous speech in December 1854 in downtown Seattle, when he was in his late fifties or early sixties. .. Dr. Henry A. Smith (1830-1915), a settler and amateur writer who was present and took notes at the time, .. waited 30 years to transcribe his notes on the speech. Smith did not speak coastal Salish, the language of Chief Seattle, so no one knows whether someone present during the speech translated Chief Seattle's words. .. All we know is that [the] speech, as Smith rendered it .., contains common 19th-century English-language rhetorical flourishes that make it sound suspiciously like Smith made up at least part of it. [Moreover,] as Jerry Clark of the National Archives and Records Administration and many other experts show, we cannot be sure if Chief Seattle ever gave the speech below. However, we do have well-documented records of several other speeches that Chief Seattle gave. Other versions of the famous "ecology speech" by Chief Seattle are unlikely, if not outright fakes, as Seattle Times reporter Ross Anderson has pointed out. The most famous of the fake Chief Seattle speeches was written in 1972 by screenwriter Ted Perry for a documentary about the environment. .. A later version of Seattle's speech anachronistically mentions the slaughter of buffalo on the Great Plains by the U.S. government, which began in the 1880s--years after Chief Seattle died in 1866, more than 1,000 miles away on Puget Sound, where the buffalo definitely did not roam.
IS IT A HOAX?
by Joyce E. Meredith and William C. Steele (from the article "The truth of Chief Seattle" published on Pantheist Vision Vol. 14, No.3, Sept. 1993 by the Universal Pantheist Society)
Although Chief Seattle's familiar "web of life" speech was in fact never delivered by Seattle, it is not the hoax that some have branded it. [It] is the product of over 100 years of textual evolution. Labeling the speech a hoax ignores the significance .. by which it has become well loved and oft quoted. [According to] an article by Dr. Garrett Hardin (1989), ecologist and expositor of "Lifeboat Ethics," entitled "The Gospel of Chief Seattle is a Hoax." .., the speech is actually a piece of fiction from a 1972 screenplay. .. Hardin [reports] information exegeted by two independent authors, Rudolf Kaiser (1987) and J. Baird Callicott (1989). Kaiser's fascinating and well documented treatment of the subject explains the evolution of the "original" Chief Seattle speech into the widely quoted "web of life" speech. The Chief, whose name is better rendered as Seeathl, made two short speeches at the Port Elliott Treaty negotiations of 1855, both of which are documented in the National Archives in Washington, D.C. Dr. Henry Smith, a physician who was present at the scene, reproduced from his notes ANOTHER speech, which he claimed to witness, and published it in the Seattle Sunday Star on October 29, 1887. No one knows how accurate Smith's reproduction of the speech was, but it's all we have now and is the closest to "original" as we are likely to come. In 1969, William Arrowsmith "translated" a version of Smith's reproduction into more modern English. .. Shortly after .. a screenwriter named Ted Perry asked Arrowsmith's permission to use the latter's rendition of the speech as a basis for a filmscript he was working on. He wrote a speech that he himself called a fiction, and thus was born the familiar oration that so many of us have quoted for years as Chief Seattle's. Perry had no intention of perpetuating a hoax. It was the producers of the film who neglected to credit Perry for the writing and set in motion a network of misinformation which still persists. What did Chief Seattle say? He did not say "all things are connected...." [but] he did say .. that his people's dead love the land because they still reside in it (unlike the white dead, who dwell away from this world). He also did inspire the work of screenwriter Ted Perry. In fact, significant portions from Perry's work are strikingly similar to the Chief's "original." .. Some phrases from Perry's version are identical to the "original." The familiar line, "We may be brothers after all. We shall see," appears in both versions. Ted Perry's version of the speech is longer than the "original," and, as Hardin points out, contains some historical anachronisms as well as passages that differ in meaning and tone from the Chief's speech. Still, in reading the two versions, it is obvious that Perry was familiar with, and inspired by, the [gospel] of Chief Seattle.
[The] use of the word gospel is quite appropriate (..according to Kaiser, the first person to actually use it in reference to Chief Seattle was British Monsignor Bruce Kent). Just as the Biblical gospels have evolved over time in the Judeo-Christian community through oral tradition and subtle changes by transcribers of text, so the "gospel" of Chief Seattle has emerged within the environmental community. .. Most readers of the biblical gospels would not consider them a hoax even though they are likely quite different from the "original" text. .. The gospel of Chief Seattle as we have come to know it is not historically accurate, but it is certainly not a hoax. .. The gospel of Chief Seattle is much more complex issue than whether or not the Chief said one thing and not another, and whether he did or did not write a letter to President Franklin Pierce. .. We must continue to look to this source of wisdom and strive to understand what it really has to say, not what we wish it to say.
«Even so, the message is poignant and worthy of our attention. And it seems likely that Chief Seattle would agree with the spirit of the message.»
