Chief Sealth

"Every part of this country is sacred to my people. Every hillside, every valley, every plain and grove has been hallowed by some fond memory or some sad experience of my tribe." ~ Chief Sealth

CHIEF SEALTH'S 1854 speech was first printed in the Seattle Sunday Star newspaper in 1887, more than 30 years after the speech was given during treaty negotiations between tribal and territorial leaders. The speech was translated by Seattle pioneer Dr. Henry A. Smith. How much of the speech truly captured the Chief's words, originally spoken in Lushootseed and the Chinook trade jargon, and how much reflected Smith's flourishes of Victorian English cannot be determined, but the speech is known throughout the world as a powerful statement from an Indian leader about the relationship between a people and the earth. Read the full speech at www.suquamish.nsn.us.

Doc Maynard, Seattle pioneer and sub-Indian Agent, became good friends with Chief Seattle and convinced his fellow settlers to change the name of their new town from Duwamps to Seattle in 1852, a year after it was founded. The Chief's name was pronounced "See-Yahtlh," which was difficult for English-speaking settlers to say, so they simplified it to "Seattle." The 1864 studio portrait at right is the only known photograph of the famous Indian leader.

Chief Seattle portrait, University of Washington Libraries, Special Collections, NA1511