Chief Seattle's Similes and Metaphors

                As I served my LDS mission nearby and on many of the reservations that may have been part of the offer which Chief Seattle addresses in his speech, I thought it was more than appropriate for me to do some rhetorical analysis on his words.

                Chief Seattle’s address is chalked full of beautiful metaphors and similes. Because this document was not only translated twice before making it to English I am not sure how much of these wonderful sayings are in an essence the original words of the Chief, but it is certainly the foundation of how he builds his argument. He does a great job at analyzing the past and building his speech to the current moment giving his speech both a judicial (review of the past) and epideictic (present issue) feel.

The name of Chief Seattle's Tribe

          He touches on some of the ideas of “self-development without interference” which we discussed in class the other day, in regards to his people and the new settlers in his area. He uses these liberalistic ideals to compare and contrast his argument, to make a list of pros and cons, and to eventually state what it would take for him to agree to the terms of the reservation deal. It is evident more than anything else at these points that Chief Seattle paid good attention to the Kairos of the situation at hand. There were likely many opinions as to what should be done with regards to the offer from the “white men”, and it is clear from this speech that the Chief was very tactful and careful to not step on anyone’s toes, or rather not include any possible thoughts that his tribe may have had.