Today I read what is or was supposed to be Chief Seattle's Speech in response to when his tribe was being asked to sell their land and move to a reservation. However, there is major controversy over whether he actually said these words after translation. It is thought to be fake because the translation shows no realistic relations to the part of the nation that he is from. Some translations state that he used horses to get around, has seen many buffalo, and seen or smelled pine trees and whippoorwills. None of these would be relevant to his lifestyle. H. A. Smith's has more relevance than others. He talks mostly about how he's sorry for the fighting they have done and thanks the white for wanting to protect them, but it shows almost nothing in common with other translations. Pretty much all of them seem wrong so maybe we will never know what he actually said. The only notes taken at the meeting were that Governor Stevens and Chief Seattle met and traveled along the Puget Sound. So the question we end with is what is the harm? So what if we portray one thing when something else was meant? Well we lose a grip with reality. Thoughts are more biased than they normally would have been to begin with. The natives of North America have already been hurt enough and there is no need to go and put words in their mouth.
[Speech]
[More about Authorship]
Madison Broadway
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