Even 170 years later, Chief Seattle’s Speech remains a powerful testament to Indigenous American culture and manifesto against the exploitation of the earth. Chief Seattle (1780s-1866) was the leader of the Duwamish people, an Indigenous Americans tribe in the area around Seattle, the city named in his honour. In the 1850s, the United States government pressured the Duwamish to sign the Treaty of Point Elliott, forcing them to cede their lands and relocate to reservation territories. Aware of the threat, Chief Seattle visited the U.S. governor in 1854 to deliver his speech. (Over the years, several versions have been published. I read a 1983 Dutch translation, which I believe is based on Henry A. Smith’s contested 1887 version.)

Het grote opperhoofd in Washington heeft gesproken: hij wenst ons land te kopen. Het grote opperhoofd heeft ook woorden gesproken van vriendschap en vrede. Dat is zeer goed van hem omdat we weten dat hij onze vriendschap niet nodig heeft. Maar we zullen over uw aanbod beraadslagen, want we weten dat als wij ons land niet verkopen de blanke man met zijn geweren komt en het in bezit neemt. Hoe kun je de lucht, de warmte van het land kopen of verkopen? Dat is voor ons moeilijk te bedenken. Als wij de prikkeling van de lucht en het kabbelen van het water niet kunnen bezitten, hoe kunt u het van ons kopen?

Rather than contradicting the white government, Chief Seattle argues that man cannot sell lands he does not ‘own’. He warns the governor not to exploite the earth as merchandise, as the white man’s appetite will ‘devour the earth and leave behind only a desert’. By describing the Duwamish people’s care of the land, Chief Seattle offers a perspective on life that contrasts sharply with that of the colonists. ‘The sight of your cities pains the eyes of the red man,’ he continues, pleading for respect for nature and Indigenous traditions.

Chief Seattle repeatedly refers to himself as but ‘a red man who does not understand’. While seemingly self-effacing, I came to see how tactical that phrase is from a realpolitik perspective. At the same time, he seems to misapprehend his opponent, addressing his speech to ‘the white man’ as a whole. Considering the cruel course of history that followed (the government never fulfilled its obligations), his words fell on deaf ears.

The Dutch translation was published by Aktie Strohalm, an activist organisation against ecological abuse. Today, the anti-neoliberal plea in the epilogue feels somewhat unrefined, and the use of terms like ‘blanken’ and ‘indianen’ is outdated, yet the notion that our systems of education, government, and income generation hinder the achievement of sustainable development goals remains highly relevant.