TOW #11 | Written - Chief Seattle's "Oration of 1854"

The 1850s were a difficult time for most Native Americans. By that time, European immigrants had taken over the majority of the United States, knocking over the Native Americans’ natural culture and history for a more modernized one. In response to such catastrophes occurring, Chief Seattle raises his voice in his “Oration of 1854,” proclaiming that their natural reserves should be conserved. Through figurative language such as similes, Chief Seattle proposes a treaty in an effort to persuade Governor Stevens to conserve the Washington territory for the Native Americans.

In the midst of an analogy between weather and the current situation of the Native Americans, Chief Seattle describes that his “words are like the stars that never set” (1). Utilizing such an analogy places an emphasis on the fact that his words are unchanging, suggesting that the following proposition he is to make will not be swayed by differing opinions. This emphasis helps to portray to the audience, Governor Stevens, that he is firm in his stance and is not willing to budge. Stevens’s gained understanding that Chief Seattle is firm in his proposition shows Stevens that Chief Seattle is serious about the proposal, and is determined to pass the treaty. Furthermore, Chief Seattle appeals to his audience’s sense of guilt through similes, comparing the white men as “grass that covers the grass prairies” and the Native Americans as “scattering trees of a storm-swept plain” (2). Through the juxtaposition of a positive illustration of white men and a negative illustration of the Native Americans, Chief Seattle is highlighting that white men are plentiful and considered higher than the less populated, lower Native Americans. Holding him and his men at such a low level evokes a sense of guilt from the audience; Governor Stevens now most likely views the Native Americans as not well treated due to him and his white people. This guilt could result in swaying him into not buying more land and instead negotiating with Chief Seattle and make a treaty.

Although by this time period, Europeans have already dominated the majority of the United States, a select few people, like Chief Seattle, believed that more could be done to conserve Native American culture and territory. He expresses his determination through tear-jerking figurative language that sets both his purpose in stone and blossoms a flower of guilt in his audience. Will those blossoms, however, be enough to change the “grass prairies” of white men into meadows of Native Americans?