November is National Native American Heritage Month.
I chose to review Great Speeches by Native Americans edited by Bob Blaisdell. Blaisdell has scoured through five hundred years of historical records to find the most accurate translations and transcriptions of compelling speeches of indigenous Americans.
Some were written and delivered in English.
Others were spoken in native languages and translated and recorded by mutually approved translators T French, British, Canadian, or U.S. Government hearings.
Since many indigenous tribes did not have a written language, the speeches were retold by Native witnesses.
Usually, these witnesses were women whose responsibility was to listen carefully and remember everything that was said at these meetings. According to Blaisdell’s research, these Indigenous women could remember speeches and details of treaties word for word with remarkable accuracy for many years.
The first speech is from1539 approximately twenty-five years after Juan Ponce de Leon arrived in what is now Florida and enslaved south Floridian tribes. Spanish explorer Hernando de Soto. De Soto sent a request for an audience with Acuera, a Timucua chief. Acuera’s speech denounces the brutality of the Spaniards who invaded his land, slaughtering or imprisoning many of his people and he makes it clear he and his people will fight to the death to remain free.
I was immediately taken by the eloquence of Acuera’s words and the imagery he was able to convey. It is so different from the image of indigenous Americans portrayed in history books or movies.
Before each speech. Blaisdell identifies the speaker, the date of the speech, the occasion, and the political and social climate the speech was given in. He also provides the source of the speech. The book is divided chronologically in three sections. Part One covers the sixteenth, seventeenth, and eighteenth centuries. Part Two covers the nineteenth century and Part Three includes speeches from the twentieth century.
Many of the speeches are poignant and sad. They lament the loss of their lands and way of life. Others are angry calls to war describing the many broken treaties between various tribes and the French, British, and U.S. governments. Some are calls for peace and the desire to be free.
The speeches provide a look at the highly organized civilizations that were here before the pilgrims came and laid claim to the fertile lands of North America. I learned a lot about the relationships between different tribes and how the tribes interacted with Spanish, French, Dutch, and English explorers, traders, and settlers.
Many of these speeches are upsetting to read, but it’s important to study our mistakes along with our successes.
Bob Blaisdell is the editor of more than three dozen Dover literature and poetry collections. He is a Professor of English at the City University of New York's Kingsborough College and a reviewer for the San Francisco Chronicle, the Los Angeles Review of Books, and The Christian Science Monitor.
Photo Block images from left to right:
Sitting Bull, Tecumseh, Chief Seattle, and Chief Joseph
Images used for this article were in the Public Domain or taken from the internet with no intention of copyright infringement.