Native Americans Are People Too
The Native American experience was far from an adventure that anyone would want to encounter. Though it was experienced differently by each Native, they all experienced the adversities and mercilessness of the colonists who came to America. Chief Seattle’s speech to the White Chief was anything but delightful as he refused to believe the colonists’ God was better than their own – after the fact that the tribe was uprooted from their homeland and sent to a reservation. Red Jacket: furious that the colonists had stolen everything from their land to their resources, argued endlessly that if the Natives and colonists were met to share the same religion, it would have happened eras ago. Lastly, John Ridge discussed …show more content…
While Seattle’s main issue with the settlers was being removed from his land of many moons along with the Natives sharing the same God, Red Jacket had felt as though they were completely different people – religiously, physically, and culturally. His first comment was that if they were supposed to share the same religion, why were the Natives not given the same book when their forefathers were alive, long before these Natives were even alive? Having been deceived by the settlers many of times, Red Jacket questions whether or not they are even able to be trusted on the topic of religion because they have been fooled more than once other times. His second comment refers to the whites being so different because they all fall along a broad spectrum of one religion however it is not uniform or the same for every individual. He subtly insults the colonists while discussing this issue that he has by saying, “Why not all agree, as you all can read the Book?” (Jacket 1579). The difference he points out here is that sure, they all practice the ‘same’ religion spoken in the Book; however, why is it so different among their people? And how should that not be a factor considered while they are trying to convince the Natives to conform? Red Jacket points out that they are more than just religiously different. They were physically created by God differently – their complexions are nowhere near the same. In addition to that, the Great Spirit gave the colonists art, whereas he gave the Natives the ability to survive off the land and its resources rather than relying on outside sources to survive like the colonists. He clearly sees how different these two groups of people are and he is troubled that the Natives are supposed to conform to the settlers’ religion when neither group was created to believe in
The Native American experience was far from an adventure that anyone would want to encounter. Though it was experienced differently by each Native, they all experienced the adversities and mercilessness of the colonists who came to America. Chief Seattle’s speech to the White Chief was anything but delightful as he refused to believe the colonists’ God was better than their own – after the fact that the tribe was uprooted from their homeland and sent to a reservation. Red Jacket: furious that the colonists had stolen everything from their land to their resources, argued endlessly that if the Natives and colonists were met to share the same religion, it would have happened eras ago. Lastly, John Ridge discussed …show more content…
While Seattle’s main issue with the settlers was being removed from his land of many moons along with the Natives sharing the same God, Red Jacket had felt as though they were completely different people – religiously, physically, and culturally. His first comment was that if they were supposed to share the same religion, why were the Natives not given the same book when their forefathers were alive, long before these Natives were even alive? Having been deceived by the settlers many of times, Red Jacket questions whether or not they are even able to be trusted on the topic of religion because they have been fooled more than once other times. His second comment refers to the whites being so different because they all fall along a broad spectrum of one religion however it is not uniform or the same for every individual. He subtly insults the colonists while discussing this issue that he has by saying, “Why not all agree, as you all can read the Book?” (Jacket 1579). The difference he points out here is that sure, they all practice the ‘same’ religion spoken in the Book; however, why is it so different among their people? And how should that not be a factor considered while they are trying to convince the Natives to conform? Red Jacket points out that they are more than just religiously different. They were physically created by God differently – their complexions are nowhere near the same. In addition to that, the Great Spirit gave the colonists art, whereas he gave the Natives the ability to survive off the land and its resources rather than relying on outside sources to survive like the colonists. He clearly sees how different these two groups of people are and he is troubled that the Natives are supposed to conform to the settlers’ religion when neither group was created to believe in