Chief See-Yahtlh

"How can you buy or sell the sky, the warmth of the land? The idea is strange to us." So begins the famous speech of Chief Seattle. Or does it? In reality, that line was written by a screenwriter in the 1970 for the movie "Home." Most of the speech people associate with Chief Seattle was made up. There is no authenticated original of what he actually said that day, only notes taken by an early settler who was present when Seattle spoke. The original speech was actually much darker and filled with despair and resignation to what was to come. So who was this man, whose words were so powerful that years later they were twisted, and used for entertainment and political gain?

Chief Seattle was born about 1786. His father was a noted headman and war leader, but his mother was a slave so he was considered of low birth. Around the time of his birth the Puget Sound area was hit hard by small pox, a white man's disease that came to them before they'd even seen a white man. Also at that time they saw the white man's great ships off shore. These Indians took these things as a sign that the prophecy of the end of the world was eminent. This set the stage for his life to come. He was a noted warrior and gained his reputation and recognition on many battle fields and raids,

As a young man he took the name See-yahtlh, which was later changed to Seattle by Dr. David Maynard, an Indian agent and trader who Seattle talked into establishing a store near his people at Alki Point. Maynard agreed. This is when Maynard renamed the city after See-yahtlh; however most white people couldn't pronounce his name properly so it was changed to Seattle.

On January 10, 1854, territorial governor Isaac Stevens arrived at Seattle to try to get the Suquamish and Duwamish to move to a reservation. Seattle was there. It was at this time he made his famous speech which was long, elegant, and insightful. Seattle recommended that the Indians go to the reservation, but reserve the right to visit burial places whenever they wanted. A treaty was signed and Chief Seattle was one of those who signed. At the time, Chief Seattle was troubled that white men gave more weight to a piece of paper with a signature than in believing his word. By this time he was becoming more respected for his diplomacy