As Long as the Grass Grows · Episode 12 of 15 · 56 min
What Native Leaders Said When the Treaties Were Broken
When the promises fell, Native leaders answered in surrender speeches, essays and courtroom pleas, mostly known through the people who broke them. The episode gathers authenticated voices including Chief Joseph, Red Cloud, Sitting Bull and Standing Bear, and admits the hard truth that the famous Chief Seattle speech was largely written by others. The record is real, but mediated.
Who's who
- Chief JosephNez Perce leader who wrote the 1879 essay An Indian's View of Indian Affairs
- Red Cloud+1 more episodeOglala Lakota leader who addressed Cooper Union in 1870
- Sitting Bull+1 more episodeHunkpapa Lakota leader whose treaty statements survive through reporters
- Standing BearPonca chief in Standing Bear v. Crook
- Black HawkSauk war leader whose 1833 autobiography is a foundational as-told-to narrative
- Ten Bears+1 more episodeComanche orator who refused reservation life at Medicine Lodge
- Mato-Tope+1 more episodeMandan second chief to whom a dying speech is attributed
- Chief SeattleDuwamish and Suquamish leader whose famous speech is largely invented
Where it happens
- Bear Paw Mountains, MontanaWhere Chief Joseph surrendered in 1877
- Cooper Union, New York CitySite of Red Cloud's 1870 address
- Medicine Lodge, KansasSite of the 1867 treaty council
Timeline
- 1833Black Hawk's dictated autobiography is published
- July 30, 1837Four Bears dies of smallpox at Fort Clark
- June 16, 1870Red Cloud delivers his authenticated address at Cooper Union
- October 5, 1877Chief Joseph surrenders near the Bear Paw Mountains
- May 12, 1879Standing Bear v. Crook rules a Native person is a person under U.S. law
Still debated
Nearly every statement here reached the record through interpreters, officers, reporters or editors, so authenticity is debated case by case. The Red Cloud broken-promises quote is of uncertain provenance, and the popular Chief Seattle text is a 1971-72 invention.