Chief Seattle’s 1854 Oration †Was it true? Essay

Chief Seattle, leader of the Duwamish tribe, was author of the famous language to cap Governor Stevens upon his arrival to Seattle in 1854. However, many doubt Chief Seattles lyric to have taken place. There is little credible evidence available to sanction up the dwellence of the idiom with the exception of a newspaper article compose by a vivify enthalpy A. metalworker. The article, titled Chief Seattles Speech, was published in the Seattle Sunday have on October 27th, 1887. If make Smith was witness to Chief Seattles desperate speech, he was the sole translator. How argon we to chicane that translation faults and liberations were not make by physician Smith? The Duwamish language was not a written language, having no alphabet, thus no official shew or pen could have been made. For these reasons, it is highly probable Chief Seattles oration of 1854 neer existed.The first and only published account of Chief Seattles Oration was written in the Seattle Sunday Star on October 27th, 1887. The author of the article, Doctor Henry Smith, was said to have been a witness at the speech and served as a translator for Chief Seattle however, no official enter of this account exists in any historical archive. Chief Seattles speech has been widely cited in numerous books and documents, still every citation leads back to Doctor Smiths article. Therefore, the only proof available that this speech ever occurred is the newspaper article dating back to 1887 from this oneness source.If we are to give the benefit of the doubt to Doctor Henry Smith as having been witness a to this speech, who is to say the translation wascorrect? For all we know Doctor Henry A. Smith made up every vocalize of the speech, nobody would know. Chief Seattle was known to have been illiterate, neither knowing how to read, spell or speak English (McCarthy par. 12). His speech was presented in nice divide form, almost as if Chief Seattle was reading the address off a piece of paper, e ven though Chief Seattle could not read.The Duwamish language had no alphabet, it could not be written, it was only spoken. There is no possible carriage Chief Seattle could have had anything toread from or look at patch giving his speech to Governor Stevens. Due to these facts, no official record of the speech could exist. Yes, Doctor Smith could have written a near-perfect translation, but there is no evidence to suggest this. An account of the speech by the Duwamish tribe, or a replica of the speech in Duwamish, does not exist for anyone to refer to.The man known as Chief Seattle existed, the Duwamish tribe existed, Doctor Smith existed, these are known FACTS. However, there is only but one written account by a Doctor Henry Smith that this Oration took place, and only one translator was said to have been at Chief Seattles Oration and that one man was a Doctor Henry A. Smith. The Duwamish tribe had no written language for an official copy of this speech to have taken place, and there is no reason for anyone to rely that Doctor Smith took an exact translation with no liberations added. For these reasons, Chief Seattles Oration of 1854 never existed.