Letter to President Pierce, 1855

Summary

            This reading is a letter from Chief Seattle a Native-American to President Pierce; in this letter the Native American is concerned about the treatment of the land by the white man. He is troubled about how the white man has no regard for the sacredness of nature. He goes on to give examples of how the white man has disrespected the land. The land Native-American has lived as one with for generations.

            This Chief Seattle gives an example of how the white man, who is considered civilized and considers him a savage, has shown no respect for the land. He has came in and taken what he wanted from the land and moved on to do it somewhere else. The red man is disturbed by the white man’s disrespect for the land. The red man was confused by the white man’s actions. But perhaps it is because the red man is a savage and does not understand (Seattle 642).

            Not only is there a lack of respect for the land by the white man. But, there is no appreciation for nature. There is no appreciation for the relationship of the animals, man, and the land. The white has not taken time to appreciate what is happening around him in nature. He does not hear the wind and the sound of the insects. The white has can not see that man, land, and beast are part of the same system and can not survive without the other. The red man can not understand the actions of the white man. Therefore he is troubled about the consequences he will eventually bring on him and his civilization.

Response

As I have read through this letter. I have sensed the disappointment and sadness of this Indian chief over the white man’s actions and treatment of the land. Chief Seattle states over and over again about how the white man has no respect over God’s creation. He is disappointed in the way the white man treats the land. He is disappointed in the white man’s disregard for the things in nature.

Chief Seattle tells President Pierce that he is pained over how the white sees the land as the same and disrespects the land. Seattle is pained that the white man has come in and raped and pillaged the land with disregard of the end results. Chief Seattle is a visionary he can see the problems created by the white man moving in and taking all the available resources with no regard for the land. Today in the twenty-first century we are experiencing the result of Chief Seattle fears.

We are seeing the results of the white man’s lack of respect of nature. We have species that are no longer in existence. As we become more civilized we are beginning to understand the concerns of Chief Seattle. For all things share the same breath – the beasts, the trees, the man (Seattle 642).  President Pierce should have listen to the words of Chief Seattle’s letter. We would not have today extinctions, pollution, and diseases if the white man had showed the same concern for God’s creation as the red man.

Chief Seattle was pained about everything that was happening before him. The land he and his ancestors has been part of for generations is being destroyed. Maybe one day we will heart the clock and wake up.

Works Cited

Seattle, Chief. “Letter to President Pierce, 1855.” The Norton Reader, Anthology of

Nonfiction. 12^th ed. Ed. Linda H. Peterson and John C. Brereton. New York: W. W. Norton &